


Missing Or Dead?

by Kawaii_Chibi_InuDemon



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Angst, Captivity, F/M, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Memory Loss, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-05
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:21:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 29,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27408721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kawaii_Chibi_InuDemon/pseuds/Kawaii_Chibi_InuDemon
Summary: Sam goes missing after Danny heads off on an annual trip with his family. When confronted with the fact that after years of searching he can't find her in the last place that anyone saw her disappear into, the Ghost Zone, he comes face to face with a new woman... or is she a new woman? Her memory is gone, but as everything seems to finally be going well for the pair of ghost fighters an old foe with an offspring of his own comes back into the picture. Can the pair of them defeat this new enemy and mend the riff that has appeared between them?
Relationships: Danny Fenton/Sam Manson





	1. Chapter 1

It was the year he had turned eighteen and the year he had found his affection for his friend, Sam, had bloomed into something else. He had given her a hug that day, that day he had headed out for the one week with his family that he took every year. He had said his good bye, the words I love you, on the tip of his tongue, but he had chickened out at the last moment. Fear had gripped him and now he regretted it because when he had come back he found Tucker, alone. He had stepped out of the Fenton RV and Tucker had greeted him, but when Danny had inquired about the Goth the technophile hadn't been able to hold eye contact and that was when the halfa had realized something had happened.

Flashback

"What happened?" the halfa asked, dread building in his stomach and in his heart. "Where's Sam?" Tucker had looked down at his hands now, his body taunt. "Tucker!" Danny growled as he grasped his friend by his upper arm before shaking him. "Where is she?!"

"She's gone." It was so simple and so complicated because when Tucker finished explaining her disappearance Danny felt that dread turn to anger. "She was taken by a ghost and dragged into the Ghost Zone, but no one knew until the next morning and by then it was too late."

"It's never too late! You should have gone in and searched for her!" he spat at his friend.

End of Flashback

Danny had spoken to Tucker in the last few weeks since the Goth's disappearance and he had done what he had told Tucker to do. He had searched. He had gone every day into the Ghost Zone and had asked so many ghosts about her, a picture of her in his hand as he searched, but the Ghost Zone was so vast and it was like going in circles. He had even tried to use the infi-map, but even that had failed him. They had given up, all of them except for him. He had stood there looking into that abyss for several hours at a time, only sleeping when he needed to and eating when his body began to fail him.

How long would she be missing?


	2. Chapter 2

Five years later there was still no sign of the Goth and although Danny had refused to give up on her, he had gone back to life, his own family begging him to try to live a normal life. He had almost refused to but he knew that if he continued his search without trying to move on, that he would have no life and his Gothic friend would never want that for him. She had been there for him every step of the way, encouraging him to talk to Paulina even if she hadn't liked the cheerleader. She had been the only one that had been so upset that he had given up his powers and the one that had stepped back when he wanted to date Valerie, even though she had been the one worried about it at the same time.

"She would be mad that I even let this get to me for this long, that I forgot to live my life," he stated to the clouds above him. He was sitting out at their spot, the place he had taken her after the disastroid had almost destroyed the world, the place that he had held her hand when the Elliot thing had gone south. This had been their place, Tucker having never been there. They had known each other for forever and this had become their spot for all that had happened to him or her. Sighing he stood up, a ring in his fingers, one that he had held onto since before the disastroid, something he had almost give to Valerie even after his father had engraved Sam's name. Looking at it now he turned to the tree and finding the hole with all their old stuff placed the ring there.

"I will wait for the day you and I can be together." Walking away he took to the skies just seconds after the area behind the tree opened up to reveal a ghost portal, a pair of amethyst eyes looking out from inside the swirling vortex. The eyes looked around before a form that matched a full grown woman jumped out, the sound of sirens went off. Growling the woman rushed off to hide behind the tree, her form hidden just as a skeleton looking specter stuck his head out, his own green holes looking around before cursing as the hole disappeared leaving him in the Ghost Zone.

The woman sighed in exhaustion as she slid down the tree. She looked around her in wonder at this point, her gaze taking in the town she had called her own so long ago and yet no memory of it came to mind, nothing entered her memory except for the towns view from this tree.

Where am I? She had been here in her dreams, but that had been all she could say this place had been... A dream. Suddenly the ground began to shake as the town below her glowed with an unnatural green glow, one she knew all too well. Standing up she rushed toward the town, her body changing as she took to the skies, her body glowing white as her short white hair flared behind her. She knew she needed to protect the people down below from what was surely looking for her. Why should I help? That was one thought that came to mind and yet the guilt that came from that same question swamped her.

"Fuck!"

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Danny looked at the woman next to him with little in the way of interest. She had been a love interest as a teen, but with the last several years she had become nothing by a teenager's fantasy. Even now she was still a fantasy with her double D's and her slender ageless form. She smirked at him, her pink lips twisting in appreciation of his own muscular form.

"I am so glad that you called me up, Danny," she said with a touch of his arm. "I was wondering when you would give me another chance to love you." The halfa knew that she had no idea of what real love was because Paulina was a user and always would be. She had been as insecure as Sam had painted her out to be, a human and yet so unhuman with her heartless ideas on relationships whether it was friends, lovers or possible husbands. She had chased after him when his identity had been revealed and he had relished in it, but in the end it had been nothing exciting.

"I don't think this is going to work out," he muttered and the woman before him seemed to change as her teal eyes narrowed, her touch that had been flirtatious moments ago, went still as her hand dropped. "You're nothing but a tease that never, well, gives out way too often." Now she was looking rather red, her eyes flashing a warning.

"Fuck you, Fenton! You missed out on all this twice now!" She took two steps, that was all before a blast hit her head on. Her form hung in the air for just moment as the hole in her stomach spurted blood behind her like a grave being dug for the Hispanic female. She let out a cry as her form hit the ground with a splash and a resounding thud. Danny was at her side, his transformation instant as he went to aid her, but he was too late as she looked unseeing up into the skies. He looked in the same direction to find a rather familiar face glaring down at him, but not seeing him at the same time as the skull faced specter looked past him and around him.

"What the fuck, Walker?!" The warden looked at him now, his green eyes narrowing as he threw a few blasts at the halfa who just barely managed to dodge. When had the warden been out to kill? Hell, none of the ghosts he had fought before had been out to kill, just to capture for the most part. As soon as Danny looked up he watched in shock as a blast hit Walker from behind, knocking the specter forward as green blood oozed from the white coat on his left side. Both pairs of green eyes looked to find no one, not a soul in the direction the blast had come from. Suddenly another blast came from the other side, this one missing the warden as he disappeared.

"You fucking bitch!" came the ghost warden's voice as Danny turned to the left to see Walker holding a white haired woman by the throat. "I don't know where you got this fucking power from, but I will extinguish it!" The woman struggled in his hold, but not for long as she kicked out, her heeled boot making contact with the ghost warden's crotch. With a cry he released her, but his delay didn't last too long as he blasted out in, his blast caught by her gloved fingers.

"FUCK YOU, WALKER!" came the woman's response as she threw his blast into the skies. "You won't fucking touch me again!" Throwing her hands out before her she allowed two balls of energy to form as she backed up, the balls growing expediently before launching. Danny was still standing there in awe that the warden was after a new, unknown, prey. Finally he snapped out of it when the blasts that she had delivered were knocked back, one of them heading for the skies while the other one came careening back toward Amity. He watched as the woman took off suddenly as she taunted the ghost warden, but the halfa didn't get to see where she had gone as he rushed to deflect the large ball of energy from it's target.

When he looked up the pair was gone, but he was sure he could find them just as quickly as they had disappeared and he was right when a few minutes later he found them further out of town, back to the tree that sat on the hill. Going to stand behind the woman, her short white hair falling to her shoulders as she glared at the warden before her.

"Oh, so it looks like you have a partner, ghost girl!" the warden spat. "I've always wanted to kill the both of you and I would have done it a long time ago if you hadn't fucked it all up!" The woman chuckled, the sound musical and yet filled with little emotion. It was like she found his anger of little consequence.

"I don't give a fuck what you wanted to do with me! I want to know what this sick obsession with me is! I never even met you before..." That's when she faded off, as if she wasn't sure what she wanted to say.

"Still don't remember your past!?" the warden called, his obvious delight in that obvious. "Good!" Throwing his hands out he released a blast that seemed to catch the woman off guard as a pair of bonds flew out at her. They caught her by the waist, a shock crashing through her seconds later. The halfa rushed to her aid, but she threw him off before he could touch her.

"Don't!" she warned, a hard edge to her voice. "It-t sucksss energy!" Forcing herself to power up a little, Danny watched the energy of both the bonds and the ghost female clash as she powered up more and more to the dismay of the warden watching. Danny took this chance to fly at the warden, Walker thrown to the ground easily as the bonds around Sam hit the ground with a crash. She moved to Danny's side as the halfa pulled out the thermos but before he could even get the lid off the ghost woman threw a small orb out, the white hot orb making Danny feel like he was on fire even though it was mere inches from him. It floated down, the orb touching the warden between his eyes, his skin melting with contact.

The halfa fell back, his eyes wide as he watched Walker scream out in anguish. The ghost warden flailed around as the orb sank into his skin to where his brain would have been. The pair watched, Danny in disgust while Sam watched, detached from it all. First his flesh dissolved starting with his face, his green blood oozing out, but it also began to turn to dust as the parts of him that melted followed suit. As the last of the warden melted away the pair watched his soul fly into the air toward the heavens.

"Who are you?" he inquired when he really wanted to ask about the killing of the one ghost that had tried to imprison other ghosts and humans alike over the breaking of silly rules he had set forth. She looked to him and for the first time Danny could really see her. "Sam!" The woman's green gaze narrowed.

"My name is Phantom. I don't know who this Sam is, but she isn't me."


	3. Chapter 3

Hours later found the pair of halfas sitting in Nasty Burger, the appearance of Phantom drawing a lot of attention, but she didn't seem to care as she eyed the food before her. The smell of her tofu burger wafted up to her, her mouth watering from the scent. She looked to the halfa before her, his blue eyes watching and observing, while she hated to be studied after years of enduring the probing at the hands of Walker.

"Could you stop that," she muttered. "I hate when people stare at me." When he began to eat his own food, she followed suit and just seconds had swallowed her sandwich. "That was good and you called it," she paused as she took a sip of the tea at her side, the refreshing feel of it filling her throat. "Tofu. Why don't you eat it too?" Danny shook his head.

"I can, but not today. I don't feel like it since I like real meat, but my friend, the one that went missing, loved tofu. She was a vegetarian, well, an ultra recyclo vegetarian." The woman before him smiled as if that was something funny.

"I am a vegetarian too, but in the Ghost Zone there wasn't much save for salad to eat since all they eat in that fucking prison is meat." The halfa nodded. He remembered that and the fact that you were given very little to eat anyway. He looked at the woman before him, the build of her much different than it had been before. She had filled out more and at the same time had lost so much weight. While her attitude was still pretty close to the same, she was different in her moods. "Why do you look at me like that?"

"You look different than before and how did you become a half ghost anyway?" She took another drink, her green eyes glowing like his did, but this wasn't in anger, but in thought. "I became one by accident, but that was due to being in my parent's ghost portal." She nodded. Leaning forward she began her tale.

"I don't know how long I was there and I certainly don't remember much about going there, but I do remember how I changed." There was a pause as some people walked by, Sam's green gaze following them until they were far enough away. "I tried to run from the prison and managed to find a swirling vortex while on the run, but I had no idea what it was. While trying to choose whether to go through it or not Walker appeared, the man who ran that fucking place and I chose to jump in and take my chances." She shook her head, an emotion flashing in her eyes before it disappeared. "I had been there for such a long period before I managed that first escape and had gotten caught several times." She leaned back with a shudder. "He was ruthless, far worse to me than the others, but that is because I tried to escape more times than them and that was a big no-no. Him and his stupid rules."

"Yeah, and he has some crazy ones." She nodded. "How could he keep you in the ghost zone when you're human too. You could have gone through the wall-" She pointed to what appeared to be a simple necklace, but as the halfa looked closer he noticed a flashing light. She turned it so he could see the back where all the electronics were. "I haven't seen that kind of bond, not on any other the other prisoners and I do know one who used to be confined in there." Sam's brow rose as she asked how he knew so much about the prison. "I was captured once and put in a cell, but with assistance from my two closest friends was able to escape. I met a ghost there by the name of Wulf and managed to help him escape the second time."

"Wulf?" she questioned before her eyes grew wide. "I have seen this creature."

"Don't tell me that he was captured again," the halfa groaned. He couldn't allow his friend to be taken, much like he hadn't been aware that his own best friend had been taken in there. Sam shook her head. "The how do you know him?"

"He helped me out this last time, but I had seen him on the day I got my powers."

"Yeah, hey, you didn't tell me how you got those yet." She nodded.

"I fell through the vortex into what appeared to be a large lab. There was ghost appliances all over the place and it was empty, but as I was getting ready to run the sound of the door opening behind me made me realize he had seen me." She sighed. "I tried to close the portal, but as I touched the button I saw him throw a blast, the interior of the portal lighting up as the door closed."

"That seemed like luck," Danny stated, but then he realized that if she had been in a lab with a portal there was only two places that had that, not that he was aware there were anymore in the world. "What did the lab look like?" She gave a vague description of what she had managed to see before the sound of someone coming down had made her hide.

"I wasn't sure who it was, but I didn't want to take a chance, so I hide. He walked up to the portal, a frown on his face as he pushed the button open. He was a big guy in an orange suit and for some reason he looked familiar, but before I could say something he stepped in the portal and I remembered another time, well... I guess that it was some other time because I could remember someone else stepping into that portal and getting zapped so I rushed out to help him just as he tripped on some wires on the ground. I managed to run in there and shove him out as the shock hit me..."

'Sam was turned ghost the same way I was... Shit! Why hasn't dad told me?' He would have to ask his father about this because if this was true, and Danny was sure that the woman before him wouldn't lie, then Jack had seen Sam, but when? "What happened after that?" She shook her head.

"That's when the world went dark and the next thing I knew I was in the prison again... With a new collar, one that was rather bulky." She made a face, her hand unconsciously going to her neck where Danny noticed held small marks, ones that looked like burn marks. He remembered that collar and how he had kept Walker from putting it around the Goth's neck long ago only for her to have to experience anyway. "What bothers me is that I don't even know what I did to land myself there, as well as the fact that all the ghosts knew me and hated me with a passion, save for one ghost." Danny's brows rose in question.

"It was a large male that looked like a cross between Bigfoot and an icicle gone wrong."

"Frostbite," the halfa stated drawing a nod from the white haired female. "Is he still there?" She shook her head now.

"No, Wulf and I got him out a long time ago, but Walker tried to go back to the Far Frozen, that's where Frostbite said he was from, though he never came back with anyone that I saw." Her eyes narrowed. "He was planning on killing a whole bunch of different ghosts, but I was his main toy. I can't tell you how often I found myself fighting for my life." She shook her head now. "That's why I had to kill him. He told me of all his plans, all the plans to kill all these people connected to one guy, one thorn in his side."

"That would be me."

Danny had so many questions, but after that bomb had been dropped on him he had needed to get away, so after dropping Sam off with his parents, the pair of ghost fighters smothering the poor woman, he headed back out. Walker had been planning to kill all his allies, but why? That was the big question. Was there a plan and what was it? Shaking his head he realized that with Walker dead there was no way whatever he had been planning would happen so as he sat on the lone tree, the one that overlooked the city he sighed.

"What do I do about her though?"

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sam sat in a chair, now having reverted back to her human form after several questions about her transformation. When she had de-transformed she had stood before the pair of ghost fighters looking almost as she had the day of her disappearance. Only a few things had changed and that was her transformation into a woman and her hairstyle. Maddie had taken the older Goth aside and issuing her a new outfit, as the Goth had been wearing the prison uniform, she helped do her hair, even as the raven haired beauty protested. Fixing her short hair with a straightener the older woman presented a now transformed ghost fighter. Sam now wore a teal jumper like what Danny's mother wore and her short black hair was straightened as it had been as a teen with no ponytail adorning her head.

No one knew what to say as they waited for Danny, all the questions that had bugged the pair having been asked and answered now. Sam stood up, her amethyst gaze alert suddenly as a whisper of blue left her mouth.

"Not good," she muttered as she headed for the window, her gaze looking off into the distance as a portal opened in the skies. "Seems his back up has finally figured it out." She turned to the pair behind her. "Trouble is on the way and this one is worse than Walker." The couple looked to each other and then to the Goth standing before them as she transformed.

"What are you talking about?" Maddie inquired just as something blew up in the distance. The older couple rushed to the wind to see the fire in the distance.

"His name is Beeld and he is only one of many that were over Walker." She looked to them as they stood next to her. "He's probably worse, but not as bad as the real leader though." She took off at that moment toward the fire as another one started yards farther down.

"Come on, Phantom! Show yourself!" The Goth flew over to him quickly just as Danny showed up. The pair floated above the streets below them, both ready to fight, but only Sam had met the idiot before them. "Ah, so both Phantoms appear. Good." The ghost before them was like most of them, green skin and deteriorated in appearance, but his clothing was that of a soldier or warrior depending how you looked at it. His armor covered only half of his body leaving the right part of his upper body vulnerable. His long white hair fell past his shoulders and down his back, but that was just appearances. His hair was a weapon.

"Watch out for the hair," she hissed.

"W-Wha-" Danny was pulled forward by his foot as Sam smacked her face.


	4. Chapter 4

Sam rushed at the ghost holding onto the halfa, his white boots held together with the white hair of the enemy ghost. As the male chuckled Sam threw a blast, catching him off guard as she sliced at his hair now, the blast cutting the locks and letting the halfa fall a bit.

As Danny righted himself Sam went after the other ghosts, her fists glowing with ecto energy and she punched and kicked her way around the ghostly male. Within seconds of her starting the fight Danny joined in. As the pair fought the male back, his power little in comparison to the pissed off Goth woman and the trained halfa. It didn't take too long for him to retreat leaving them to their own devices moments later.

"That wasn't serious," the white haired female stated as she looked to the halfa next to her. "He will be back though and you need to know a little more about him." This Sam was so different, Danny could see his friend in there and yet at the same time couldn't see her in there. She was so confident and as confident as his friend had seemed at times she was never this full of herself. "His name is Beeld. He was a soldier in his last life, but he was a traitor. He was always willing to betray others..." she faded off as she sighed. "At the right price. A sad life, but he finds it fulfilling."

"Who does he work for?" She shook her head at his question. "You don't know?"

"No, I have never seen nor heard of the man who rules them all, but I do know that it is a man and he is really ruthless. He wanted me to be tortured for eternity, but as I was only human I couldn't last that long." She shook her head again as a pain entered her skull. It was the same pain she experienced whenever she tried to remember her life, the one she was sure was forgotten.

"Are you okay?" he inquired as he reached out for her. She swatted his hand away, a sure sign of the Goth as she hated people checking up on her.

"I'm fine." She de-transformed and Danny nearly fainted in shock. The woman before him was definitely Sam, but she looked so... grown up and wearing his mother's jumpsuit just made his imagination work overtime at what was under the uniform.

"Wh-"

"Your mother. She felt that the clothing I was wearing was too much prison and not enough freedom..." she paused. "After your father and she convinced me to return to my human appearance."

"She did your hair too." That was not a statement and the woman before him knew that as she didn't respond. "So, you have no idea why they had you or when you were taken, but you do remember being in the lab with the portal and the moment you became more than a human." Another statement or more of a reiteration on the fact. "Sa- Phantom, do you not want to know your real life?"

"No matter who I am all of this is real." She started walking back toward the city, though he could tell that she really had no idea of where she was going. "The truth of the matter is that I could care less about what my life previous to is, because for me to forget it so easily means that I had didn't want to be in it, right?" Danny couldn't answer that one because he believed that she had a good life. Sure, her parents could be real ass-hats, but who was to say that other parts of her life were all that bad? "I don't even know what was bad or good about my life, but I do remember one thing. Phantom. That was the one thing, well, that and a pair of ice blue eyes." She stopped at this, looking into his own green eyes and that was the moment that the halfa decided to change back so she could see his own blue eyes. It was as if she were waiting for that. "Like yours. I can see those eyes, saw them every night while in that nightmare of a prison. I saw those eyes and the name Phantom popped into my mind. That is who you are?" He nodded in response. "Then you do know me, but who am I?"

"Your name is Sam. Samantha Manson." She looked thoughtful before turning and beginning to walk again.

"How long have you known me?" When he gave her the answer she requested, the Goth inquired more and more, most of the information connecting together like pieces to a puzzle while others didn't seem to have a match. "This all seems to tie together and yet it seems like I am looking into someone else's life, not my own." It didn't take long with all that talk to get back to the city. Danny was sure she would want to meet her parents, but she didn't ask as they entered his parent's home. The halfa had stayed in his parent's home so he could continue to go freely between the ghost and human world, but now that Sam was back what did he do? They were long past the years of living at home and he had saved up money from his own pay in helping keep the city clear of ghosts.

Having his parents as his bosses as well, had had it's benefits. Sam stopped in the threshold, her amethyst gaze narrowed as she looked around. You could see in her eyes that she was analyzing the area. It was as if she were seeing it for the first time as she looked around and yet as she closed her eyes and took a step forward Danny realized she was testing her memories, the ones that were still there, just missing from her main memory. He watched, his parents joining moments later as the Goth began her trek. She turned just before the stairs and walked through the living room, her pace not slow, but not fast either as she made her way effortlessly into the kitchen and back again where she opened her eyes to see her audience.

"I do know this place, but I know this is not my main home." It was as if she wasn't claiming her own house as a home, like she knew what it was like there though she claimed to have little to no knowledge of her life before the Ghost Zone held her. "May I stay here?" she questioned. Maddie and Jack nodded, their eyes turning to their son who seemed to be still in shock, but managed to nod as soon as he noticed that he was being stared at. "Thank you." She walked off, heading to one room in particular, one that she remembered sleeping in without really remembering it.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The next few days were quiet, though Sam was alert and informed the other ghost hunters that they should be as well since Beeld was one of the higher ghosts that worked for the lord of the Ghost Zone. Danny had been sure she was talking about Pariah, but once again she informed him she didn't know or had ever seen the man in charge. She just knew that he was the one commanding her and his death. As the hours and days passed Danny noticed that Sam still didn't seem too keen on going over to her parent's home and quite frankly the halfa thought she really needed to.

"Sam, you need to see your parents," he stated out of the blue one day, the morning having passed with sparring in the lab as his parents headed out for another small ghost convention. As the years had gone on more of the conventions had happened since more and more people wanted to meet the Fentons. Sometimes Danny went with them, but this was one of those times he said no and his parents understood. The Goth in question said nothing as she finished her salad. "They miss you." Though Sam had admitted to some memories resurfacing in the last few days when she spoke next he realized that she remembered something important.

"No. They may have lost an heiress, but they didn't care about a missing daughter." It was a statement that Danny could imagine the old Sam saying and at the same time the tone she used wasn't one of hurt or anger, no, it was little more than a statement and nothing more. "My parents stopped caring a long time ago, hell, the last thing I remember talking to them about was the fact that they had been trying to have another child." She looked to him now as she stood, her dirty bowl in her hands. "Did they ever succeed?"

"No, they never had another child."

"Surprise." It was so odd to see the Goth so cold, so emotionless and yet even though she didn't remember much he could see the emotions that swirled in her amethyst orbs every so often, but this time it was different. She was indifferent to her parents.

"Sam, they just wanted you to be someone you weren't. They still care." She let out a dry chuckle, one that started out like that before she let out a louder more full laugh. "What's so funny?" He didn't think any of it was funny, not her situation and not the fact that her parents were worried about her.

"Didn't I ever tell you what they told me one year?" It was so strange that she was remembering all the bad things, nothing good about her home life. "They told me that they had hopped for a boy." Another dry chuckle. "My name was already planned. Samuel Isaac Manson." This time she turned away from him. "When they found out, after the birth of course, that I was a girl they were pissed. Sure, a daughter was still an heir, just not what they wanted because once I marry if I take my husband's last name then the line is over."

"They didn't mean that."

"Danny, they never told me this after any fights, no, they told me this one night after I had woken up from a dream. They just walked into my room and said that they would tell me a story to get me to sleep. I had never gotten any real fairy tales from them, just that one and it was the one that stuck with me." She looked at me now, a smirk on her lips, one that seemed more sarcastic. "Once upon a time a couple wished for a child, a son to continue on the family name and guess what, they were told they would have a child. In preparation for this blessed child they had their world turned around, redone to bring this child joy. They were given a child alright. A daughter. Someone who would help pass on another family's name, never her own and that was the death of her last name. The end." The halfa sat there in shock as Sam turned and headed out of the room, leaving Danny in shock.

"Damn!"


	5. Chapter 5

As the days progressed Sam seemed to remember more and more of her life, little pieces though and nothing to link her to him. Even as the time passed with them spending plenty of time together, the female Goth failed to even really connect with him, refusing at every turn to talk about anything meaningful. The halfa was getting frustrated with her lack of communication as he wanted her to remember her life and had assumed that she would love to have those memories back.

Every time he saw her he would ask her questions or mention something they had done together and with every prod she would shrug, as if it were nothing or give him a one word answer. She didn't seem to want to have much to do with him or maybe it was just her past was too much at this point.

"Why do you do that?" she questioned one day when Danny had left her alone, his questions muted by his concern for the Goth that seemed reluctant to remember her own past. He looked at her in confusion. "Why do you care so much about what I remember?"

"Because l- care about you a lot and believe that you should have those memories back. Don't you feel upset about that? Don't you want to remember those good times?" Her brow rose in question and Danny remembered that she wasn't remembering the good memories at all, not that he was aware of. "You don't remember anything good, do you?" She shook her head.

"I remember nothing about you, or your family, not of the one you call Tucker. The only thing I remember is my parents, and they aren't someone I would like to meet in a dark alley, and I fight ghosts, Danny. This just isn't my home anymore, the Ghost Zone is." He shook his head now, moving to stand before her. He took her by her upper arms, his fingers gently holding her still.

"Sam, you aren't a part of that place! That place is for people who can't move on, the dead that have something more left to stay for!" he stated firmly. "You are only a halfa like me and that means you aren't to that point yet." She blinked at him, her amethyst gaze locked with his ice blue gaze. She could see the love in his eyes, the yearning that filled his gaze. Was that for her? Did he love her?

"Were we dating or something?" she questioned, the halfa before her face faulting as he fell back. "You seem to care so much about me and yet there is more to this, isn't there?" Was he that easy to read? Could she see that by looking at him or was there something else that made her believe that there was more on his side. "Why can't you tell me? Am I wrong because I don't think I am."

Danny had no response to that because even though he knew how he felt about the Goth, he wasn't sure how she would react without her memory. She couldn't accept his feelings if she didn't remember him to go with them. Sam waited and when it seemed that he wouldn't give her an answer, she turned to head back into the lab where the pair had trained on and off every few days when they weren't fighting ghosts. The halfa allowed her to leave, his torn look a response that she accepted at that point because she herself wasn't sure how she felt about him. She was sure there was love for her in those eyes, but she knew that the question had thrown him. As the halfa watched her leave he remembered all the times they had spent together, the days before she had disappeared... the days that he had been sure that she felt something more than friendship for him.

Following her into the house moments later he failed to notice the ghost that hovered over him, his red eyes watching the halfa disappear into the house.

"Soon, soon she will run from you and what will you do then, halfa?"

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The next morning Sam lay in her bed, the one that was at the foot of Danny's own bed, the blow up mattress a relief to the Goth from her nights laying on the cold floor of her cell. Making a small sound she rolled over, her body scrunching up into a fetal position.

*Before the Goth stood Danny, his form much younger than it was at that point and he was looking rather amused at something that Tucker was saying, something that apparently she wasn't supposed to hear as the pair of men looked to her in shock and a bit of anger she could tell.

"What are you doing here?" Tucker inquired of her. "I thought you were hanging out with Elliot today." She shook her head. Behind her several students walked by, their talking loud enough to be heard, but not loud enough to bother them.

"No. Who is Elliot?" she questioned in confusion. The halfa behind the techno-geek smirked, as if he held some secret.

"Oh, I forgot you don't know about his true identity " Danny said as he approached her, his ice blue eyes drilling into her. "His name goes by Gregor, but his real name is Elliot. He scammed you, Sam. I thought you were smarter than that." Her eyes narrowed, but not in anger as she eyed the pair before her.

"I don't know who this Gregor is, but I can assure you that I was coming to hang out with your sorry asses and now I'm sorry," she spat as she turned from them. "When you guys are done having a little chuckle you can find me at my house." Walking away she could still hear them as the pair inquired about her sudden mood swing and her forgotten boyfriend, Elliot. "I don't know what they are talking about, but they are such asses." As she walked down the street she found that it was so unfamiliar to her and she began to question how she knew her two friends, but nothing else in the world.

"So, the Goth keeps on going, huh?" came a female's voice from behind. "Pity, I was hoping that the trip into that place would kill you, but it seems that pests just don't die." Before Sam could turn and look at the person talking, the voice unfamiliar to her ears, a sharp pain embedded itself into her back. Trying to reach for it was useless, but the pain was unbearable so trying to rip it from her back she ended up turning around to face her attacker.

"Why?" she questioned as the person smirking at her pulled out another blade, this one more of a dagger, the tip shining in the brightness of the sun. The person didn't say a word as they pulled out a gun, the small gun shooting behind her before the figure pushed her into it, the blade finding her side just before it all went black.*

Sam sat up, a scream tearing from her throat at the pain and the betrayal she felt still there, though the pain was fading. She looked at the man hovering over her, his blue eyes filled with worry, but she wasn't sure if it was real anymore as she threw her hands before her, the small Goth transforming as she powered up.

"Get back!" she warned just as the door burst open to reveal his parents. They stopped, their collective gazes falling on the scene in confusion. "Stay away from me!" The halfa looked at the Goth before him in confusion, hurt filtering into his ice blue gaze.

"Sam, I won't hurt you," he whispered as he leaned toward her. A blast was released at that point and Danny was thrown back. As his parents rushed to his side Sam took that time to stand up, taking a step away from the family before him.

"That's what you say, but you were the one that did this," she hissed.

"What are you talking about, Sam?" Maddie inquired as her son stood up, his own gaze asking the same question. "Danny does all that he can to protect his friends, hell, he search-" She was cut off as Sam threw the window behind her open.

"I saw him," she spat as she pulled down the jumpsuit, her bra covering her bosom, but that's not what drew everyone's gaze. No, it was the scar on her side, the one that wasn't very big, but it was very noticeable. "He left me with two mementos and I will never forget that." Turning from them she jumped from the window, the Fentons watching in confusion before the older couple looked down at their son.

"I wou-"

"We know, son," Jack stated. "The question is who could get close enough to her to do that? Sam is not big on human contact or closeness, so who got close enough to her that she let her guard down?" The halfa nodded as he looked toward the window, the fear, worry, anger, and love all mixing into one strong emotion. He would find out and when he did he would bring them down.

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Sam didn't know where she was going, but she was getting away from that halfa that had stabbed her! Flying high over Amity she noticed the spot she had come from, the tree that stood next to the space her initial hiding spot had been. Somehow that tree seemed so familiar, like a space that she had found comfort from.

"Hmmm..." Setting down before the tree she looked up, the sun shining higher in the skies now, the bright light too much to the Goth as she moved under the shade of the tree, her gaze falling on the branches hidden in the foliage of the tree. Smiling softly she began to float before a thought, a moment flickered in her mind. Stopping she de-transformed and began to climb the tree. The leaves tickled and the branches creaked with the added weight, but Sam was back in the time that she had been a teen, everything so enjoyable, well, 'cept for going home. Home had been a nightmare at times. Her parents had been condescending and forceful, but there had been times she had felt that her home life was perfect and that was when her grandmother stepped in.

Her grandmother had loved her regardless of her gender and what she came to be. She had been proud of her for being an individual.

What happened to her? Had her grandmother died during her absence or had she lived on wondering what had happened to her granddaughter? Sighing she looked out over the town, her eyes taking in the place that Danny claimed was her home. "What's so great about it? What makes it my home?"


	6. Chapter 6

Danny was still flying the skies hours later in search of the missing woman, her last words and that marking on her side making him worry because she was hurt and because she was under the assumption he had done it. He would never lay a finger on her... unless it was in a good way. The halfa shook his head as he headed back toward his house, hoping for another glimpse that would show him where Sam was. As he was flying down toward his house it hit him that he had failed to go to one spot, but would she be there? Only one way to find out. Taking to the skies again he headed for the tree that overlooked the large city.

Sam was still leaning against the tree when she felt the first signs of a ghost, her breath misting before her and the sudden drop in temperature were the first clues. Jumping to her feet she looked up to find Danny, his form growing larger as he grew closer.

"Not the time," she muttered as another feeling filled her... fear. There was someone else here, waiting. "Fuck, how could I have not noticed?!" Turning around she was hit full frontal with something gooey, the feeling of ice making her shiver. When she looked down she wasn't too surprised to find a web of ice over her body, covering most of it with an icy chill. Before her stood Beeld, his long hair floating in the wind as he smirked at her. Luckily for Sam Danny was over them and their enemy had yet to notice the other halfa.

"Finally, the master will be most pleased with my capture of you, Goth girl." The amethyst eyes narrowed at him, her lips twisting in anger. "The death penalty is too good for you so I might suggest a more lucrative arrangement benefiting me and mine." The Goth could feel the bile rising in her throat at the thought of her body being used like that, another instance coming to her mind of that same invasion of her body. That was it for her, that thought, as she leaned forward and released the contents of her stomach.

"Sick bastard," she spat as she looked up at him, the ghost male growing closer. He smirked at her tone, his gaze taking in her attire as if deciding what was under them. As he drew close enough she managed to spit some of her vomit on his shoe, a sign of disrespect to him. He growled low, his movement quick as he backhanded her, but as his smirk returned a blast come from behind Sam and stuck him in the face, the smirk gone now as a scream flew from his lips. Sam smirked now, but it faded as well when she saw the look on the young halfa's face.

Danny's face was twisted, his green eyes glowing brighter than the sun as he threw another blast at the male before him, the other ghost still down from the first one. "You fucking piece of trash!" the white haired male hissed, his right hand glowing white with another blast, one ready to demolish the male before him. "You are not even worthy to breath next to her, much less think you can-" he shuddered in disgust before towering higher over the other male, a look of hate in his shimmering orbs.

"Not like it's the first time," the man muttered, his lack of concern making the halfa over him even more ticked off as he powered his ecto ball up further, while another one burned in his left hand, this one blue like a chunk of ice as it grew.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Danny hissed angrily. "Are you fucking implying what I think you're implying?" It was as if the other ghost realizing his error as the halfa before him placed his hands together, the white orb mixing with the blue one in a flash of brilliant light. "Tell me!" he commanded, his voice growing colder and louder. At first it appeared that Beeld wasn't going to say something so Danny threw out a blast from his green orbs, the beam burning the long hair of the ghost clean off.

"Okay! Okay!" he whined, his eyes closing as he began to tell the halfa that Sam had been violated before, when they had been trying to break her. "I wasn't there, but I heard it through others who had been there." Before he could blink though his head was blown off, the ecto ball infused with ice that encased what was left of his body. After ensuring that the other ghost was indeed dead, a thing he had learned from the woman still encased in the ice web behind him, he turned to free her, but first he wanted to know.

"Is what he said true?" he whispered, his own guilt coming into play, since he felt that he had failed her by leaving all those years ago. "Did... they vilola-" He couldn't even say the word, the pain in his heart forcing tears into his green gaze. Sam looked away, her own shame forcing her to nod even though she would rather never admit to such a horrible thing. She had been too weak to stop them, those ghosts that had forced themselves upon her. She could still feel their hands on her, their cold bodies pressing into her.

"Yeah, it's true," she whispered. "Please release me." He could hear the sadness and the regret in her voice, revealing to him more than most would even pick up, and he grew even more angry.

"Sam," he said kneeling before her, his fingers touching the softness of her cheeks. He turned her toward him, her gaze meeting his. "I am sorry that I couldn't save you. I should never have left you alone," he said as he leaned closer, his hot breath making her suck in suddenly, not because it scared her or because she was uncomfortable, but it made her ache. She looked at him and could see that he genuinely felt bad for her capture and rape, though she couldn't see how him being gone had anything to do with it... Then it hit her. The dream hadn't been right, Danny, the man before her had never hurt her. The voice that had been talking had been a woman, not a man.

"It wasn't you," she whispered. He looked at her, perplexed at her words. "It was a female."

"A female that did what?"

"The marks, the scars that I showed you. That wasn't you it was a woman." Danny realized that she was taking back what she had said earlier, her memory returning her some more of the truth, the puzzle coming together so she could see what had happened.

"Do you remember who it was?" She closed her eyes, trying to put a face to the name and yet she couldn't make it happen, the face before her blurry, but that didn't mean it wouldn't come to her at some point.

"No, I can't see them, but I can hear them and am sure that it was a woman," she stated with certainty. "I'm sorry." Danny shook his head, stating that with her lack of clear memories there was no reason for an apology. As he told her this he helped her out of the ice web, getting her free in less than thirty minutes.

"We'll figure out who it was," he promised. 'And when I do they will be buried!'

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The funny thing that happened a few days later was a real kicker for the pair hunting down her attacker, the one that she had remembered in a dream, but had mistaken for Danny. Since Sam only remembered the woman's voice and couldn't place her face they decided to get all the female ghosts together to find out which one, little did they know that the person who had done the dreadful deed was going to find them.

Sam sat in front of the house, her eyes closed in meditation as she sat alone on the front lawn while Danny worked on his computer, listing more and more names of ghosts that resided in the Ghost Zone. As the Goth basked in the darkness overhead, a storm on it's way with lightning crackling in the distance, a person stopped before her. Sam wasn't unaware of the person standing before her, she could hear their breathing and with a tone that was less than inviting she said, "You are blocking my energy, so unless you want me to put a new breathing hole in your neck I suggest you back away."

"Gotten a little more bitchy, haven't we Goth freak? Never mind, I don't care about you. Where is Danny?" Sam's brows drew together as the voice echoed in her mind and as much as she wanted to open her eyes and look into the eyes of the person who had cut her before sending her into the Ghost Zone for several years, she couldn't bring herself to look knowing that it was a human before her and that she would kill her upon sight.

"And I am sure that you are just one big ball of sugar, so if you don't want to melt then you should just fuck off," Sam said, her tone even and yet there was a hint of chill in there too. The woman huffed angerly and walked past Sam toward the door, not getting far enough, fast enough, as Sam threw her hand behind her to make a thin sheet of ice that tripped the other woman. "Did I say that you could go there?" the Goth inquired upon hearing the scream of pain as the female fell.

"Sam? What's go-" Danny's voice stopped as he saw the female at his feet on a sheet of ice. "Sam, that is not nice."

"Oh, I'm sorry, you see I thought that since she had stabbed me that I was entitled to a bit of payback," the Goth spat, her aura blazing around her lightly. "Seeing as I didn't leave a mark... this time." The halfa was shocked as he looked down at the shocked woman's face.

"Did you really do that?"

"Why would I do that?" the woman asked, her tone sweet. "You know she's always hated me after calling me that horrible word, Danny." Sam let out a chuckle as a memory flickered in her mind, her eyes never opening as she said the one line that had started it all.

"If by shallow you mean, 'do I think I could stand in a puddle of you and not get my feet wet'?, then yeah that was me and you are still shallow, though I think the pool's gotten a little smaller." The Hispanic woman let out a growl, Danny's eyes narrowing at Paulina in shock. "Tell him how you did it, Paulina. How you stabbed me from behind after I left school." The Hispanic grew pale at the realization that Sam remembered it, remembered how she had come up from behind and had weakened the Goth for her real plot.

"Paulina," the halfa said in confusion and anger as he realized that Paulina really had had it out for the Goth. "What is wrong with you?" She looked between the pair of halfas, Sam now standing to look at her.

"He told me that if I did it then he would take her away!" the Hispanic woman screamed.

"Who?" the halfas asked. "Who told you that?!"

"I never got his name, but he looked like a clown with a drug problem."

"Freakshow!"


	7. Chapter 7

It was a simple matter taking the Hispanic to the Ghost Zone where they left her with Frostbite, the large creature ready to help with a punishment for the human woman. After that the pair headed back to his place to try and figure out where the human enemy could possibly be and what they could do. What stuck in both of their minds was why? Why had the human male taken such lengths to get rid of the Goth? He should have no agenda with her because Sam hadn't been the one to take him down, not once, but twice!

"I still don't get it," Danny stated in frustration as they searched his files about the human, his files small and compact unlike most of his other ghostly enemies who had files several bytes bigger. It made no sense. She had been there both times, but had done nothing noteworthy that should cause the older human male to want to kill or harm her... Unless there was more to this plot and if that was the case then how was he the master of all this?! How was he controlling ghosts if his staff was gone?

"Maybe he thought that he could do more damage by taking me out," she supplied. "If you can't hurt the one you want then why not take out the allies or friends?" The halfa looked at her, a light bulb coming on. That did make sense. Sam was one of his closest friends so if he hurt her then it would cause more pain for Danny than if he had taken out another student or human.

"That sounds like it might be the reason, but why you and not Tucker? Why was he left unharmed?" The Goth looked thoughtful, her memories still slightly incomplete. She couldn't remember their relationship so she couldn't give him an answer.

"How close were we, Danny? You must remember that not all my memories are intact so I can't define the difference between me and Tucker." She paused as her memory from that day came back. "If I remember correctly I think you were closer to the techno-geek so it doesn't make se-"

"We were all pretty close, Sam. I think it has to do with an easier target." Her amethyst gaze narrowed and Danny quickly backpedaled. "Not that you were an easy target, but you were alone more often than me or Tucker." His hands up in defense he failed to notice the change in her gaze as she went back in time.

She could remember all the times she had kept to herself, all the times she had stayed back even after knowing Danny. They had known each other since the time the pair had been in diapers, but she had been the one that hadn't really bloomed like he had. While Danny was outgoing and super friendly, Sam had been reclusive to a point, and had not liked human contact. Danny and Tucker had been the only ones allowed to even touch her as she was quite selective with who she let near her.

"I was almost always alone, huh?" she stated, her tone soft and Danny picked up on those words. He could hear the sadness, the realization that the Goth had rarely ever put herself out there like he and Tucker had. She hadn't wanted to go to parties and she hadn't done sleepovers except with the pair of boys and even those had been rare as well. "Huh, never really even thought about it." Turning from him she walked over to his bed and sat down, but she didn't sit idle, no she pulled out a small computer. It was almost like a PDA, but it was faster and more adaptable than any of Tucker's stuff. He opened his mouth to say something and she silenced him as she began to type quickly. "So I know Freakshow from two different fights and yet judging by the information you supplied I did little in the battles against him except attempt to help you escape twice while the second time I was nearly killed along with your family and mine as well as Tucker's."

"Yeah." She began to flick through it, her eyes studying the information and then it seemed to strike her as odd that there was no information on how Danny had broken the spell over him on the first fight. "What's that look about?"

"I just noticed that the information is incomplete," she stated looking up at him quizzically. "How did you break free from the spell that he held over you?" Danny informed her of how and she began to type, the puzzle coming together for her and yet it felt so out of place that she smirked at the image before her. "I think there is more to this, but it seems too far fetched that I don't know i-" Before she could finish her sentence the wall behind her exploded sending dust and plaster everywhere. It was enough to throw the halfas off as the cloud of dust hid each of them from the other. The sound of laughter filled the room, laughter that was none too familiar as Sam crouched into a fighting position. Danny followed, though they still couldn't see each other and then it happened. Both were attacked at once, sharp objects jabbed at them in turn.

With a flicker of light the pair changed at the same time going intangible to avoid being stabbed. Danny found himself thrown into a wall though as the fighter before him shocked the life out of him forcing him to remain solid. Sam found herself in a similar situation as she was knocked to the ground face first. With a groan she forced her vision to remain steady though it wanted her to see double.

"Resisting is useless," a high female voice called from before Sam. "He will have you back before him whether you are conscious or not! Fortunately for you he wants you alive!" Another stab was taken at the female halfa and with speed that her opponent had not been prepared for she was gone, her back hitting a wall as she removed herself from harm's way. Danny glowered up at the shadow before him, the dust settling. He went intangible quickly, sinking into the ground. His opponent let out a hiss as she followed him leaving the other pair to stand off. Sam could see her opponent now.

The woman before her was light blue, like a frozen body, her black eyes like ink as they fell upon Sam. Her suit wasn't much, most of it torn away like a zombie with her stomach exposed and her legs. It was faded as if washed multiple times. Her long black hair was matted like some horrible bed head as it fell around her shoulders. In her hand was a rather menacing looking blade, the tip of it shining brightly with the light that entered the room from their hole.

"Hello, Phantom!" she growled. "Must you always make it so difficult when you know in the end where you're going to end up?" The halfa growled, her teeth flashing in the light. "Ah, always the hard way with you." With that said she disappeared making Sam's eyes flicker back and forth to locate her.

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Danny wasn't having it any easier as he battled the now revealed twin of the woman battling Sam, the only difference was that her skin was light green, like a zombie brought to life, her clothing intact save for the small dirt stains that littered her form. Her eyes were black orbs as well matching the darkness of her hair. While the other's was matted beyond repair this one's hair was pretty straight with dirt and grass in it.

"We don't want you yet! We just need the female, but if you want to make this difficult then let me make sure you're out of commission for a minute!" Her hands flew forward, her blade green while the other had been blue. What Danny expected out of her hands wasn't what came out... grass blades flew at him, like someone had put a lawnmower on reverse, the small blades of grass seeming harmless until one his his arm, blood splattering into the air as he let out a cry of surprise and pain. It was like a papercut, but on a grander scale as it seemed deeper. As he tried to go intangible to avoid most of the hits he found that he was unable, his ability on pause it seemed as she threw more and more of the green blades.

"Fuck!" he hissed as he tried to dodge, but that was like trying to run through the rain without getting wet... Impossible! Unable to escape he was pinned to the wall, the small blades attaching to his suit and the suit to the wall. As the barrage stopped Danny found two women looking at him with no sign of the other halfa. "Sam! What the fuck did you do with her?!" The blue skinned one had a large gash on her forehead, an obvious hit from the other halfa, but even with the scowl of irritation she looked pleased with herself.

"Been returned to her own like a little lost puppy," she hissed as she touched the mark on her head. "Don't worry, you'll see her soon... when it's time." With that the pair disappeared leaving Danny to pull himself off the wall.

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Sam was actually in hell, the temperature like that of a furnace. She was laying on the ground before an empty throne surrounded by shadows, red eyes glaring back at her. She was flat on her stomach, her body unable to move as she glowered back at them. Most adverted their eyes in fear while others continued to gawk at the lain out halfa.

"Seems that you can still sit up a little," came a high pitched voice. "Need to remember to up the gravity in your cell later, but, that will be after your play date." A shadow walked toward the throne from the right, a staff held tight in his hand. "I don't like playing hide and seek and I sure as hell hate losing good people to you or that fucking Danny Phantom, but I guess in the end I get what I want and you," the shadow let out a chuckle. "You get to spend what little life you have with me. Pity that even as a halfa I can't control you, not that you didn't submit for a moment or two."

"Fuck off Freak!" He smirked wider as he took a seat. With a snap of his fingers two ghosts flew over to Sam, both ones she had seen once... or so she could tell. One was an archer while the other welded a large hatchet or axe, she wasn't sure what to call it. "Oh, I am so fucking scared of your lackeys! What, you gonna kill me now?" She laid down, forcing her body to flatten out. "Go ahead, make my day motherfucker!" He just chuckled.

"Not until your little boyfriend comes for you otherwise it is no fun for me."

"I don't have a boyfriend, Freak!" Then it hit her, an image of a kiss. "What-t..." she stuttered out, her mind flickering images like a film running double time. She saw herself kiss him again, this time before the portal that had changed her... and him! There were images of all of them, then of her fighting ghosts with Jazz and Maddie, conquering Paulina and of watching him flirt with the shallow girl. Things were coming back, but there were still so many pieces missing. "Danny's not my boyfriend, you hack! He's my god damn friend!" It was like a power surge, her form glowing brightly. Everyone stepped back, Freakshow covering his eyes and then before him stood two glowing forms.


	8. Chapter 8

This is ours, we made it with our everything

Sam blinked and then looked next to her to find Danny, his own form glowing strong like her own. The halfa at her side looked just as confused, his ice blue eyes looking to her green ones in confusion, but it only took him a second to realize what was going on as he saw Freakshow sitting before him. Transforming he joined her in his Phantom form. Sam looked over at a now frightened looking freak, his red eyes wide in shock at what was before him before looking triumphant. It seemed that he had what he wanted and before either could figure out what was happening a figure appeared at his side, the Hispanic female familiar.

"Paulina!" the halfas gasped together. Paulina was different, her pale skin now slightly green like a zombie, while her outfit was one of a cheerleader. She glowered at them, her teal eyes now red with could only be her death or that of a halfa. "What happened?"

Something real, as real as it could ever be

"She died of course," Freakshow stated with a grin. "Well, more like she was murdered." His grin grew larger. "I did make a bargain with her after all. She was to throw the Goth in the portal after ensuring that she couldn't fight back, but she failed to complete her end of the bargain and so she forfeited her life to me." He looked to Danny. "You throwing her in the Ghost Zone pissed me off because it made her harder to find, but that's okay because I still got her." He laughed now, the laughter high pitched as he commanded the former ice queen to do his bidding. The funny thing was that a person was only held back from passing on because of an obsession and the Goth had a funny idea of what that obsession was.

"Move!" she commanded before pushing Danny out of the way as the Hispanic teen rushed at them, her fingers out like a large kitty's claws. Just seconds before hitting the spot where they had been standing her nails did become claws, glittering sharply as they swung in the air toward Sam. The Goth had figured as much and moved to dodge them. "Fight him!" she cried out pointing to Freakshow. Danny realized that she was taking care of the Hispanic and he needed to take care of the freak.

You gave me all of yourself, I gave you all of me

"Uh uh uh," the red eyed male stated with a shake of his head. "Don't think so, Danny boy. I want to have you on the floor crying as I kill her, the one person able to keep you sane and safe from my control. As soon as she is gone then I will have control of you and I will rule the world!" Danny's brow drew down as he smirked.

"We have a Brain complex because I think that Pinky will make you fail!" he yelled as he turned to see Sam slam Paulina into a wall. The former cheerleader screamed her frustration as the halfa turned back to the male before him. "Yeah, looks like those plans are fo-" He was cut off as a scream filled the room. Turning he watched as Sam fell back, her stomach bleeding out onto the rocky floor under them. She was clutching her stomach, a rather nasty looking wound marring her flesh. Paulina stood over her grinning like the cat who got the cream, her red eyes flashing with triumph.

Turning his body he rushed to her side, or at least attempted to as Paulina turned her attention on him and it wasn't pretty when the now dead girl did that. The Hispanic female threw out her hands effectively blocking the halfa from getting too close to the females in the dome before turning her attention back to Sam. The female halfa was now up, her body still bleeding, but with little in the way of holding her down as she powered up more energy to fight back. It wasn't long until she had gathered enough energy to start attacking the Hispanic female before her and although it was taking a lot out of her she continued to throw energy blasts. Paulina was slow in dodging, though she was good at blocking, her shields worthy enough to hold off Sam's blasts, but not strong enough to keep them out when there were multiple shots fired.

Now set it free from yourself, for everyone to see

"Sam!" Danny cried, his hands reaching for the dome only to be struck by Paulina for his attempt to get close to the Goth. The halfa turned his attention back to Freakshow, knowing that he had to defeat this foe to save Sam's life. Paulina and the other's were being controlled by the freak. He just needed to figure out how. That's when he saw the staff. It wasn't like his other one, it had no glowing orb of evil on the end. There had to be a way he was using it, but how? While he was busy trying to figure out how to take care of the crazy man on the throne Sam was trying to fight for her life.

Dodging and weaving was causing her to feel light headed, her mind trying to stay alert while at the same time feeling the edge of darkness trying to pull her down. She wasn't sure how she was supposed keep going when the former cheerleader made some impressive shields that Sam could only destroy by hitting them repeatedly. The problem with that was that when she did those machine gun attacks it wiped her out faster. She was going to have to stop shooting and start being more defensive since the other female was bad at attacking. As she gathered up what little energy she had she failed to notice the hole, her foot catching on it while at the same time Paulina attacked!

I'm not afraid to let it out  
I'm gonna show you how I feel

"Seems that the Goth freak won't make it," Freakshow stated pointing to the fallen female, her eyes closing in concentration as she threw up a white shield, most of it covering her front while her back was protected by the dome that Paulina had thrown up.

"Fuck! Sam!" he took a step toward the dueling females as he cried out for his Goth, but then he looked back as the two ghosts that had been holding Sam took hold of him. With a growl he was forced to look forward, his green eyes falling on his halfa companion. She didn't look very good at the moment, her ivory skin now a deathly white, while her body was slick with sweat. Danny couldn't just let her be killed and began to struggle violently against the ones holding him firm. What had happened to his powers? He was stronger than this! With an arch of his body he began to power up quickly, the green aura around him changing to white within an instant.

It was as if the Hispanic grew tired of messing with the dying woman as she flew out of the dome, leaving Sam there. The Goth didn't remove her shield from covering her body. Freakshow looked at her with bemusement, wondering as to why she continued to fight when there was no opponent, but then they all found out why as the Hispanic touched the side of the dome and it began to shrink. This caused the red eyed male to break out in a twitter, his voice so high pitched that even his minions groaned in annoyance. With a quick look at them the groans became laughter, joining his own as he leaned back to watch the Goth become a snow globe.

I'm not afraid to let it out  
(who cares if you dont like it)  
(if you don't like it)

"What a good show, drone," he said to Paulina, the Hispanic smirking as she looked at her work. It seemed that she didn't mind being a drone, well, until she seemed to figure out what he had called her and then she turned to throw him a murderous look. Freakshow was so tuned into the Goth being killed that he failed to notice the glare he was receiving, that is until a ice blast struck him in the face. "What the fuck?" While Paulina taught her master a thing or two about how much of an ice queen she was Danny managed to free himself from the clutches of his captors, the pair of ghosts thrown off and into the shadows of the crowd. As soon as he was free of them he rushed to Sam's side, well the side of the dome she was occupying anyway.

"I'll be okay," she whispered, her green eyes falling on him. "Trust me." She groaned softly before throwing her arms up to keep the dome up. "Just take care of the freak and his minions." Danny was torn. He was more scared for the Goth and even with her telling him she was okay, he could clearly see she was not. She wanted him to defeat the freak behind him, but how could he if he wasn't even sure how Freakshow was controlling them. "Not the staff." He looked at her in shock. Had she read his mind? "Not the staff. Decoy." A decoy? What else could there be? Looking around them he took it all in as Sam told him to concentrate.

Go ahead, you know just what you want to do  
Don't deny, you feel cause I feel it to

"What am I supposed to see?" he growled in frustration. "I see Paulina fighting with Freakshow and several other ghosts in the shadows as well as a few st..a..nding... That's it!" He stood up and looked over the heads of the shadows. There was so much light coming from the shield that the Gothic halfa was holding that you should be able to see the faces of the ghosts around them and yet there was no visible ghost!

The only problem with figuring this out, was figuring out what about that information could he use to get them out of this. He looked at Sam, who was losing now, her body being crushed by her shield as the dome shrank smaller and smaller. He looked back around the room hoping to see something that would end it all... Something that would save them. Sam was counting on him for this release, this victory. As he looked at the room he found that it was all the same. There appeared to be no doors, no windows, nothing that was off or the opposite of any other part. The shadows were the only thing that changed from one side of the room to the other. Nothing else.

Take a look all around, you'll feel it in the air  
From the sky to the ground, I feel it everywhere

That's when he felt it. It was an oddity in the room. While the room was scalding hot, like the furnace was on, there was a chill, something laying behind the walls of that one part of the room that drew him toward it. As he drew closer he could see the ghost that stood there in the real shadows of the room, but it didn't look familiar to him, this ghost. It was different. The person before him looked like a woman, her curves obvious even in the shadows, but she looked human in appearance, with no discoloration of her skin. In fact she looked like... "Freakshow?"

The man in question looked up from his perch atop the throne he had been occupying moments before, now taken over by Paulina. He noticed where Danny stood and began to freak out.

"Hey, get away from there, kid! That is not a place for you to be!" He scrambled to get to Danny, but when he dropped down on top of a certain cheerleader that set her off. She grabbed him and hauled him to the ground giving the halfa more time to take care of the female Freakshow before him.

I'm not afraid to let it out  
I'm gonna show you how I feel  
I'm not afraid to let it out

Danny glanced over at Sam who was now pinned beneath the dome as she began to close her eyes. It was the last few minutes for her and he needed to get her to safety so rushing the ghost woman before him he began attacking. His attacks were dead on, hitting her square in the head and yet she didn't seem to fight back. It was strange watching her fall back. It was like watching a slow motion part in a movie, but even as she fell nothing happened. The ghosts that were visible still were under Freakshow's control and Sam was still being crushed. What was he to do?! He was so frustrated, but it seemed hopeless with the fact that he had isolated the one oddity in the room.

"Ha!" came the high pitched tone of Freakshow as he found himself pinned under Paulina. Danny let out a growl as he turned to the man responsible for all the shit he was going through at this moment. Sam's pain, her loss of memory, everything. He could feel the anger building up inside of him and then he heard a whimper, his green eyes looking to the very person who had been put through so much just because she was close to him. Paulina hated her, Freakshow wanted her dead, and yet she had stuck close to him all this time, with all the ghosts that hunted them down, all the injuries she had healed for him.

I'm not afraid to let it out  
I'm gonna show you how I feel  
I'm not afraid to let it out

He didn't have to think twice as he rushed back to the Goth's side, his gloved hands touching the dome with little thought for his own safety. When it began to burn his white gloves he knew that Sam was in true danger because not only was it crushing her, but it was cooking her. Sam opened her eyes and looked at him, her amethyst gaze slightly dazed, but there was something in those depths, a knowledge that had been missing... Sam had her memories. She moved her own gloved hand to his palm, their fingers separated by the dome and yet he could feel her. She smiled at him, a sad smile, one filled with regret and without thinking Danny leaned close to the dome, his eyes watering at the despair that reflected back to him. The fact that she knew it was the end was too much for him and he wasn't going to let it end this way. Behind him the pair had stopped fighting to watch in shock as he allowed his white gloves to catch fire, the white hot flames licking at the cloth that had once protected his hands.

To let it out

He leaned down, his lips touching the dome and her eyes grew wide at what he was doing. He was giving her his love, even if it meant pain. She felt tears fall down her cheeks as she whimpered, the only sound she could make with as little power that was left in her body. As her lips moved to touch his her body went back to human form, the power that had been there almost gone with her last effort to kiss the man that held her heart for so long. As their lips touched a tear from Danny's green eyes touched the dome with a hiss. It was at that moment that the eyes of one cheerleader were opened, a teal color filtering in as tears fell down her cheeks. Though she was dead she could see that their love was more than anyone could have figured. They were willing to feel the pain to be with each other.

This is ours, we made it with our everything  
Something real, as real as it could ever be

She walked over, her steps light as she reached out to touch the dome Danny falling back as her hand touched the top of the dome, her hand so cold compared to the heat of the confinement. Within seconds the dome evaporated leaving a breathless Goth woman staring up into space. Her face was redder than Danny had thought and her body was soaked in sweat. Thinking on his feet he began to cool his own body down further. Leaning over her he pulled her close, her eyes glazed over with the heat, her hands, burned like his own reached out to touch his face. As time passed his own body healed. His ghost powers allowed for that, but her own powers had been pushed too far for her to recover, most of that power used to heal the hole in her stomach as far as it could. There was a scar, he could see that, but at least the wound was gone.

"Sam, I love you and I don't want you to die. You have to stay with me." Her eyes remained open, but she was looking like she wanted to sleep. He couldn't allow her to close her eyes, because all the years she had been gone had been too hard on him. He had barely held on with the knowledge that she was gone. Every day he knew she wasn't dead, just missing, but everyone else had been convinced that she had been dead. There was no way to tell if she had survived in the Ghost Zone as no human had ever tested that idea. She looked at him, a soft smile as her eyes closed, her palm touching his cheek. He sucked in his breath, her hand cupping his soft cheek, her blood staining his face...

You gave me all of yourself, I gave you all of me  
Now set it free from yourself, for everyone to see


	9. Chapter 9

The Goth felt her heart shudder, the thought that he was going to get down on one knee here of all places when she couldn't give him a proper answer making her upset and yet at the same time, it felt like something that had been a long time in coming, something she had wanted and yearned for forever. It felt so wrong and yet so right that when he finally had the small box she felt the tears of frustration leak from her eyes. He looked so perplexed at the sudden waterworks that he paused, a hesitation she was aware was her fault. She force a smile to her lips as she waited for him to continue.

"Samantha Manson, I love you with all my heart and soul, something that has taken this clueless guy too long to figure out. Will you marry me?" She nodded, the feeling of frustration still there, but the overwhelming rightness of the moment filling her with the need to be with him, even if she still felt so bereft with the lack of vocals. He smiled, his ease making her grin more as he pulled her close, her own body still worn out, but that didn't matter as his lips fell on hers in a soul restoring kiss. As she kissed him back she failed to realize that they had an audience.

I'm not afraid to let it out

"Finally," came the familiar voice of Tucker as he stepped forward, his own eyes sparkling with tears of joy while the woman at his side sighed with contentment. Danny's parents stood in the back, both of their smiles making her feel better that her own parents had failed to show themselves. Something struck the woman at that moment, her eyes going wide in shock. Sam made an attempt to talk and remembering that she had no voice looked around. When her eyes fell on a pen laying on the counter she began to write. It was one word, a name, that she wrote on her gown.

"Paulina?" The halfa pulled back, his eyes growing dark at the remembrance of the now dead teen. It seemed that she had been dead for a long time, the first blast killing her and then Freakshow bringing her back to finish the task. She had only been used as she had done for so long. In the end she had helped them, but it had been too late for her when Sam had been saved. The Hispanic woman had fled, the other woman, the one that resembled Freakshow disappearing in seconds leaving the dead freak bleeding out his death on the grounds. "She's gone, as is the other teen woman and, well... Freakshow is dead." When Sam attempted to vocalizing what she wanted, she remembered that she couldn't. It was so hard to remember her lack of voice. Danny handed her some paper that lay on the far counter.

'I could care less about him, though I wanted another hit at him. I know that Paulina was a bitch, her attempts to rid the world of me extreme, but she tried to help us at the end, releasing me when no one else could,' she wrote, her handwriting neat even when she rushed her words. Danny had to agree that the Hispanic had helped them out, but if she hadn't done it to begin with then Sam wouldn't have been in the situation she was in. More writing. 'She made up for it.'

"Sam, they're gone and they should never bother us again." She sighed. She felt that she should heed his advice and take the moment to enjoy the peace, it would never last. It never did in Amity. It was a literal ghost town. "You will have to stay here for another night of observation, you know, to ensure that everything is okay, but then you can come home." She felt there was more to his words, but she wasn't sure how to make him say it since she couldn't prod him. Funny thing though. It was like the halfa felt her thoughts as he took both of her hands. "Though you could come live with me now."

The Goth smiled, her heart warming at his gesture. He really wanted to have her close. Suddenly doubt clouded her mind. Was he doing this to protect her? It hit her then that she hadn't tried to see how her powers were healing. Sometimes when she overexerted herself her powers failed to work.

"Your powers are fine," he stated. "You've been in a coma for the last few months." The raven haired woman grew still, her eyes wide as she looked at her fiancé. She had been out for more than a few days or weeks? How had that happened? He said nothing, the look of fear in his eyes telling her the truth.

"You were pretty close to death, Sam," Jazz stated. "It was touch and go for a moment there." Sam looked down at her pale fingers, the pain still there even though she had been out for so long time. Her body was still healing and yet she couldn't believe that she had made it out alive. She had remembered those moments in the dome, the heat scorching her skin and the pain that had filled her entire being as she tried to keep calm, tried to keep herself alive. She had felt life leaving her as her powers began to fade. It had been so close and those last moments with Danny had been her one saving grace. She had wanted him to know how much she loved him and how sorry she was that she had been gone for so long.

It had been so hard looking at him and knowing that with all the time he had waited she was still leaving him, again against her will. She wanted to live, but her body couldn't take it anymore and had started to shut down. It was as if the halfa at her side could feel all the questions, his hands squeezing hers, but he didn't say a word. She looked up again, her eyes trying to meet his, but the dark haired male refused to meet her probing gaze.

"Danny saved you," Maddie stated when no one made a move to speak, to tell the young woman how she had lived past her death. "He gave you en-"

"Mom, don't." It was a warning and it was ignored as the redhead walked over to her son, her hand resting on his shoulder and giving him the look she gave him whenever he stepped over the line. Her stare warned him that she wasn't going to stand by and let him leave Sam guessing as to how she had lived. It was torture for someone who wanted to know that she hadn't just been lucky and the Goth didn't believe in luck. She would want to know.

"She deserves to know, Danny." Maddie turned to Sam, a soft smile on her face. "Danny lent you his powers for several days, keeping your body alive while doctors tried to help you. They couldn't do anything, hell, the idiots pronounced you one of the walking dead like your life had no meaning. No amount of money could change their mind." She looked at her son, a gaze full of love and pride as her husband stepped forward.

"They gave Danny grief for even trying to support you when they couldn't keep you alive with their life support systems." The Goth's mouth flew open, her amethyst eyes locking with his as she forced him to release her. She reached for him, her hands shaking as her energy dwindled, but she refused to stop her grasping. Finally he moved forward, giving her his face. She smiled, her naked lips twisting into the smile that had stopped his heart on many occasions. He could see the love in her eyes, the look of pride and thanks that reflected back at him.

"I couldn't let you go, not after we were finally reunited." The pair stood there gazing into each other's eyes as their family and friends left the room to give them some solitude.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It was noon the next day when the doctors allowed her to leave, their mouths shut through the whole ordeal. They should have been thankful that the Goth couldn't talk, because if she had been able to she would have given them a sound verbal beating. A letter would suffice once she got home, well, once she joined Danny at his home. As he carried her out of the large white building she looked up, her eyes resting on the red cross that meant so much to so many people and yet so little to others. Her own kind had failed her, while the one person most had feared and tried to destroy, had stuck by her side.

Looking up at the man in question as he took to the skies she leaned against him, her amethyst eyes taking in all of his looks, his green eyes glowing brightly as he took her home. He had been so impatient for them to release her, his boots wearing a hole in the floor with his pacing. She smiled again at the image of him pacing the small room. She had become rather impatient too, her need to be with the man before her so great that she had snapped at several of the staff when they tried to keep her there longer. It had taken all of her willpower not to take one of them down at one point, Danny having headed out for a soda. When he had come back the poor nurse had been near tears as she fled the room.

Amazingly he hadn't asked her what was wrong. He must have thought that with no voice she couldn't make them cry, but Sam had found a way to make her feelings known without a voice to vocalize them. Cuddling closer to him she allowed her hero to speed up, both anxious to be alone.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Days later found Sam feeling more than a little frustrated. She had moved in with her halfa, but even though she wasn't in pain anymore it was hard to get the ghost fighter to handle her with more strength and less tenderness. She had waited years to be with him, even though most of the time she hadn't been aware of his presence. She had known there was someone though, someone who was calling for her, even if she hadn't remembered his face. His name, Phantom, had stuck with her. Frowning she went on the prowl for her fiancé, finding the man in question in his lab, well, the lab that was being completed. It would be almost an exact replica of his parents, with a ghost portal and everything. He was looking rather perplexed about something though, his features dark as he looked at what appeared to be a blueprint.

'What's wrong?' she inquired pulling out a pen and pad as she moved to his side, her complaint forgotten as she looked over his shoulder. He let out a sigh.

"It will take them at least another week to complete everything since the machine required to make the portal is hard to locate." He sighed again. "My parents seem to have lost it." No surprise there since Jack was known for his notorious pack ratting. He probably put it in the storage somewhere in the back since the couple had made the portal several years back. The Goth wasn't sure what to say about that. It sucked that he couldn't have better access to the Ghost Zone as early as possible, but she figured that he would be fine for another week. She wondered as to his frustration when it hit her. He was as frustrated as her!

The question was What to do about it?


	10. Chapter 10

Well that night the Goth decided that she would help them both. They obviously needed to get some love and then they both would feel better, so while Danny went to help his parents find the missing machinery, she set up the bedroom in a way that would assist in the lovemaking that she was planning for the night. After taking a long tub soak, the Goth making her skin soft with scents and lotions of relaxation she began to set up the room with candles, music, and dark scarves to cover the lamps in the room and aid in giving the room a romantic feel. When it was done several hours later she looked at their room with pride and nervousness.

'I hope this works'. It was all she could do not to tear it all down. She had waited for him, but still she was rather nervous about this new step in their relationship. 'But I am so tired of waiting for him.' She wasn't one to wait for the guy to make the first move, not when she was ready herself, but she had given Danny plenty of hints that she was ready and he chose to ignore them, treating her more like a doll that a flesh and blood woman who had needs. Hearing the sound of the front door below her she rushed to dress in the baby doll negligee that she had purchased several hours ago.

"Sam! I'm home!" He knew he would receive no answer, but he didn't want to startle her either. Looking around the darkened front room he notice a little note next to the stairs. Looking rather confused and bemused at the same time he reached for the black envelope. It had his name scrawled in neat lettering that was Sam's beautiful handwriting. Opening it he found a set of instructions. Smirking with each word he laid the card down where he had gotten it from and took off his shoes and his socks. Laying them next to the envelope he headed up the stairs. Turning to the right where their room was he noticed a dim light from under the door. Next to the door was another letter. This time he was quick to pick it up and read it.

Chuckling he set it back down and entered the room to find it empty. Looking around at the candles, a light scent of lilies penetrating the air he searched for his soon to be wife. The door to their bathroom opened up and the halfa's jaw dropped in shock. Before him stood Sam, a side of her he had never thought to see as she stood before him barefoot with a black lacy number that barely concealed the black thong she was wearing. She smiled shyly, her eyes glittering with lots of different emotion. The halfa gulped, his body responding to her appearance, not that it didn't every time they were close to each other, but she had been someone else, someone who had forgotten him and then she had been hurt.

He had tried to take it slow, every time they had kissed he had forced his hands to keep in appropriate places. It had been so hard, but every time he got the urge to do more he had forced himself to remember the marks on her pale skin from the attack, the fact that she had just gotten out of a coma and had also just been released from the hospital. She looked at him now, her desire clear in her eyes, the same emotion he was sure reflected back at her from his own ice blue eyes. Sam took a step toward him, her steps slow, but steady. If it weren't for the fact that she was holding the fear down, she was sure she would have fallen apart upon seeing him. Danny took a step toward her now, his steps faster than hers, the urge to be close to her tugging at him, forcing him faster until he had her in his arms, his lips on hers, claiming her as his own.

"Are you sure?" he whispered, his breath tickling her lips. He was restraining himself, afraid that she would change her mind. Nodding she leaned up on tippy toe to kiss him again, showing him that she wanted him more than anything...

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The next morning found the couple laying on the bed as the sun rose high in the skies outside their curtained window. That was one thing the couple shared, something that would make them laugh as others just shook their head. The pair hated mornings and would prefer to sleep in.

"Maybe we should move the bed into the basement," Danny grumbled as he turned over, his arm falling over his eyes. "No way the sun could get down there." Sam smirked beside him, her sleepy eyes falling on him as he turned toward her. They kissed, the lovemaking from the previous night wiping them out. Not only had they done it once or twice, but four times after the initial sting had died. After having been violated in the Ghost Zone she had thought that it would always be painful, but with her halfa it had been anything but painful. Sure, she had probably caused that first pain, tensing with fear from her previous experience, but Danny had ensured that she relaxed. He had done all that he could before thrusting into her to make her feel good.

Giving herself a mental shake she returned her full attention to the halfa before her. Leaning forward she kissed him. There were no words needed and as that realization hit, so did the fact that once again she couldn't speak to him, couldn't tell him how great the experience had been. Danny seemed to realize that she was withdrawing and with a soft, sad smile he pulled her closer, his warmth cocooning her.

"Sam, no words are needed when your face tells me all. I could see the pleasure in your eyes, the flush on your beautiful face telling me all I needed to know. My beautiful Gothic woman, you speak so clearly with your body that speaking is not needed at all." If he had been trying to reassure her he failed to realize that she took that as a bad thing. Like he was saying her talking was bad because he only wanted her body. The Goth was taking it to a whole other level, one that he had not meant, but she smiled at him, pretending that she wasn't hurt. He wanted to say more, but she yawned and smiling softly, happily, he pulled her into him as they fell asleep together.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

After struggling with what to do with her lack of voice Sam finally gave into learning how to do sign language. She knew it was going to be hard but she wanted to be able to vocalize her thoughts even if there was no paper. Making this decision she told Danny. The halfa seemed pretty okay with it, though he reminded her that her voice would come back.

'How does he know that?' She questioned as she headed out for her first class. The doctors had said that it was possible to get her voice back, but they didn't guarantee it and that was why she didn't believe them. Hell, she couldn't make a single sound, never mind that she couldn't talk. She refused to be hampered by her inability. What happened next was something that triggered another worry in the small Goth's mind. There were attacks, the attacks frequent and meaningless. Most of the ghosts had given up on attacking the Earth as they had helped save it, but then there were those specters that just refused to give up on their obsession. Skulker, Technus, and a few other ones continued to wreak havoc, but that moment as she watched Danny fight them, her position below him giving her a perfect view, she realized that with her being Danny's woman made her a target.

It had never bothered her before, but now without her voice there would be no way to let him know she was in trouble, so for the first time since Danny became a halfa the Goth hid. She rushed across the street to a building that housed pets. Ducking into the building she watched from the safety of windows. She watched as her soon to be husband took them down with speed and agility, but while watching him she felt a pain in her heart. Could she put him such pain if she were harmed. It had been bad enough that last time when she had known she would die. Knowing that she had found him and he had found her before it was taken away.

'But it was fine.' A small voice talked to her, telling her that everything had been fine, but Danny had almost killed himself keeping her alive when the doctors had given up hope. Was she supposed to be here or had she been destined to die, to never be with the one that she loved more than life itself? She knew that she loved him with every fiber of her being, and yet with that knowledge she knew she would give up her life and her happiness to protect him.

"Can I help you?" she turned to the voice of a man, his tone questioning and worrying. When he realized she couldn't talk he apologized. She shook her head and headed out of the shop as Danny captured his prey before flying off. Heading further down the street she came to the place that would help her communicate with her hands.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It was weeks later when the doubt returned. Danny had learned sign language too, his act pleasing her immensely because in all the thoughts of pity she had failed to realize that knowing how to talk with her hands meant that her man had to know how to as well. The problem was that she was beginning to doubt that it was such a good idea for them to stay together, not because anything was wrong with their relationship, but because she had a strong feeling that something bad was going to happen soon and that night her dreams foretold it.

**Sam walked down the hallway, the walls covered in blood, both human and ghost. Walking faster she headed for the end of the hall, though she wasn't sure if it was the right way or not, but seeing as there was no opening behind her then she knew she only had the one choice. As she grew closer to the end she began to feel the ground below her crumble, the stones under her giving way. Looking up ahead she could see Danny, his face full of pain as he reached for her. He was in his human form, his ghost form gone or he hadn't transformed. Why didn't he transform?

Her question was answered as she felt the cold of steel against her neck now, the falling having stopped at some point. Now Danny was forced to his knees, his eyes full of tears, tears that matched the ice blue of his eyes. Sam wanted to stop it, she wanted to free him from the pain in his eyes and there was only one way to do it...**

Popping up in bed next to the love of her life she clutched her heart, the pain that had been annoying at first becoming unbearable, but she would need to push forward. Looking down at Danny, his eyes closed in a peaceful sleep she promised herself one more day, one more day with him.


	11. Chapter 11

The next morning Sam woke up to find the halfa gone, a small note left on the bed for her. He had gone to fight a ghost, his writing sloppy with how quickly he had written the note. She smiled sadly knowing this would be the last day because she couldn't put him in harm's way again. The fact that more ghosts were attacking had been bad, but now they were attacking in the middle of the night. Danny would soon be so sleep deprived that he wouldn't be able to fight properly. Was that what they were after?

Little did she know, but she was wrong, that the ghosts weren't even after the halfa that caused them so much grief... Her mind went to the dream that had driven her to tears, to the decision that she had ended up making. Walking down the stairs, refusing to use her powers at that point, she began to make something to eat, her stomach rolling with nausea and fear. She was so stressed that looking at her toast, she decided she couldn't eat. Sitting down at the table she laid her head down, still tired from her restless night.

"So, this is how the little Goth prefers to spend her mornings?" came a soft female voice. It was Ember, the small ghost girl smirking as if she had bested the raven haired woman before her. "I thought you would be in bed with your lover, having another session." Sam's eyes narrowed to slits as she stood, transforming quickly. Knowing she couldn't taunt the other female she got into a fighting stance, ready to battle the teal haired woman. As Ember pulled out her guitar, a trick that Sam had grown accustomed to in the Ghost Zone, Sam gathered her energy quickly producing a barrier around her. The ghost before her struck a chord that just bounced off of the shield that the Goth had protected herself with.

"So, you still have your powers, but you aren't as strong as you were before," Ember stated as she turned up her guitar. The issue that the teal haired female had forgotten was that she re-

"Ember! Ember! Ember!" came a loud cry from behind Sam. The Goth turned to find three people behind her, all human, cheering the teal haired woman on. The Goth wanted to know how they had gotten into her house, but before she could even form such a thought the teal hair on the ghost before her grew larger, her power increasing. Sam knew this might be bad, but she wasn't going to give in and powered up farther. As her power coursed through her the raven haired woman began to fight, her fists slamming with accuracy that threw the other female back, her eyes narrowed slits as she fought for her life. She had an idea that the ghost before her was there only to kill her, or to take her prisoner because though Ember was smart she wasn't one to be this smart.

"You little human!" the teal haired girl screamed, her hands releasing the guitar as she threw them into the air. To Sam's surprise more power came from above. It coursed into the teal haired ghost and with each second her hair grew larger making it almost impossible to miss as it flared over her head.

'Just great. Not only am I up against someone with infinite power, but I have no way to call for help.' Making a split decision she jumped toward the window while going intangible at the same time. Making her way into the skies she tried to move away from the house. Danny would be worried if she wasn't there, but he would be far more upset if the house were a mess and she was missing. Neither would do, but the second choice was worse. Ember followed, but only for a second, her eyes growing wide for two seconds, her mouth open to say something before disappearing. Sam was confused. What had stopped the other female from fighting? Had the lack of destruction made her leave? Or had it been something unseen? Shrugging it off she headed back for her home to find that the former rock wannabe's cheerleaders were also gone.

Just as she de-transformed Danny appeared, his clothing torn and his expression worn out. She wanted to talk to him, well, to communicate with him her choice to leave, but looking at that worn out face she decided to save the "talk" for later giving him a soft hug instead and sitting him down at the table. Maybe if she left a note it would be better? It would be hard to communicate to him her decision only to have him interrupt her and she was sure he would. Giving him some food she avoided touching him or allowing him too close. The halfa gave her a curious look, but seemed to shrug it off as he ate his breakfast.

"Did you already eat?" he questioned as he took another bite of egg. She nodded, her lie one that she regretted, but knew was essential so he didn't worry too much. "Early morning? That's unlike you." She communicated that she had woken up and finding him gone had decided to make him breakfast. "Oh, well thank you." He gave her a soft smile. She knew he wanted to kiss her and she wanted to as well, but she couldn't take that chance. Standing up she let him know she wanted to take a shower. Before he could say more she was gone, this time using her powers to go through the ceiling.

You turned away when I looked you in the eye,  
And hesitated when I asked if you were alright,  
Seems like you're fighting for you life,

Sam sighed as she followed through with her excuse to him. Stripping down she closed the door the bathroom, an after thought with how many times the couple had ended up in the shower together. Blushing she turned on the water, allowing a thick steam to build up in minutes. Sighing she climbed into the shower, allowing the water to sling and burn as it hit her chilled skin. Her muscles felt tight, like she had done an extreme workout and sure, she had just fought someone who had almost had the upper hand, but she was more stressed from the dream and the lack of sleep since first awakening from the coma.

It had all happened so fast and she was still tumbling. She was glad to be back and she was happy to be with the man she loved, but she wanted to be able to communicate with him and to be able to protect herself. She couldn't quite do either. Her powers were still weak and with no voice she couldn't call for help. Danny was also being used, his fights, more frequent than ever, were draining him. He was allowed little sleep and she was sure he was just as worried about her being left alone. This morning had also been another slap as he hadn't woken her up to help him fight. Why? Was he worried that if she were to fight she would fail? Was he worried that with her there and unable to communicate with her voice that she wouldn't be anything but a distraction? Her thoughts and feelings were like one big hurricane in her mind. They swirled and came together with such force that nothing good could get in. All her insecurities came upon her in full force.

The door opened to the bathroom without Sam's noticing and before she could even figure out what was happening she found herself wrapped in a naked embrace with her fiancé. He tugged her against him, her back touching his front.

But why? oh why?

"Sam, I love you," he whispered, his breath hot on her skin. "I love you and will love you no matter what happens." Tears began to cloud the Goth's vision, her throat clogging with emotion. She could feel the burn of the tears and the heat of the water and the man holding her. "What's bothering you that you feel the need to push me away?" He knew. He knew that she was trying to pull away and she knew that he wasn't going to let go that easily, his arms tightening around her. Before she could respond, even think of moving her hands to give him a lie he pressed his lips to her shoulder, his lips tickling her skin. It was then that the tears came, her body shuddering as she let the dam break.

They said nothing as Danny turned her around, his lips finding hers with ease as he pushed her back against the wall. The tiles were as cold as he was hot. The contradiction was too much as his hands found her body ready for him. Pulling her close he began to move down, his lips touching her collarbone as he moved lower...

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Wide awake in the middle of your nightmare,  
You saw it comin' but it hit you outta no where,  
And theres always scars  
When you fall back far

An hour later found the couple laying in bed again, both sated and complete, but Sam was awake, unlike her counterpart, who was sleeping peacefully. She looked at him, her partner, her lover, her friend, her other half. She leaned over and kissed his temple making him sigh. She watched him sleep, the words that she wanted to say to him stuck since she couldn't tell him all her fears, all her unease. Kissing him once again she got up and headed for the desk in their room. The screen lit up in seconds after the start, the light mixing with the sunshine that bled into the room.

'I need to do this before I lose my courage.' Typing quickly she made a long letter, her emotions left out of it as she began to fill the screen with meaning. It only took moments, but for the Goth it felt like hours, her fear and anxiety making it feel like the man behind her would catch her in moments, but every time she looked behind her he was fast asleep, a small smile playing on his lips. He wouldn't understand, but he would be okay. He would find a woman, one that was normal, one that could give him the love he needed and would be able to call him for help when she was in danger.

She saved it and left it on the screen as she stood. She looked at the bright screen with a sad smile as another tear fell down her pale cheek. Touching it with a kiss she headed to dress. She would leave nothing behind of hers, nothing that he could cling too. It would be final.


	12. Chapter 12

We lose our way,  
We get back up again

In the weeks that followed it seemed that the once exuberant, playful halfa became moody, his fights short and to the point. Sam had moved back home, well, she moved in with the Fentons as her parents never came to see her, her dismissal final when he showed up at her door that same day. He had been more than irate, he had been frustrated and pissed the hell off. He hadn't understood her choice, her decision to leave him when everything had been perfect. Motioning with her hands she related to him what had already been in her letter.

'I already told you what needed to be said,' she signed in aggravation. She would have refused to see him, but knowing the halfa she was sure he show up in her room. She had been so tempted to move into his room, but knew that it was a bad idea, her choice to sleep in Jazz's old room safer for her heart and mind. Looking at him now she knew she had thrown him for a loop, but she was sure he would find someone else, someone stronger than her. She realized that it wasn't just the lack of talking, it was the fact that she was weak without her voice. She wasn't whole. Strength was one thing, but with her powers she would have that strength. She needed her voice to help him, to let him know if someone were attacking him or she couldn't get to him in time.

If Valerie weren't already taken I would think she would have made a better choice. She was sure there was another woman out there, one that could fight with the halfa, or at least be a better mate for him.

"Sam, I don't understand what's gotten into you," he cried out in frustration. "I love you and you love me, there is no way around that!" He couldn't make her see reason and it was making him all the more frustrated, but he wasn't going to give up. The raven haired female began to sign again, her movements smooth as if she were calm. Danny didn't know how much she wanted to cry, how hurt she was or how much her body ached with even standing there lying to him. She signed that love was a fleeting thing when the pieces didn't match up. "Sam, we fit perfectly! There was never any better match!"

It's never too late to get back up again,  
One day you will shine again,

'How about you and Paulina, you seemed to think that was perfect too or Valerie,' she signed. 'I was never the perfect match for you. You will find her and you will love her more than you ever loved me.' Taking a step back she shut the door, the tears welling in her eyes. She leaned against the cold wood of the door for only seconds before sucking it up and heading for the stairs. Maddie stuck her head out from the lab, watching the Goth walk stiffly past her and up to her new room. Sighing the ghost fighter looked at the door where she could still hear her son, his tears silent, but in that silence she could hear the pain. Danny loved Sam and the Goth loved her Phantom. They were the perfect couple, even with as long as it had taken them to get back together.

She was tempted to go to the Goth and ask, but she knew that the raven haired woman wouldn't talk to her, not about trouble that she herself had seemed to cause. Sighing again she closed the door to the lab as the door shut upstairs. Sam was sitting at the computer, her curtains closed against the sun that was now setting. It had been hours, her halfa sleeping through the move and after with little signs of waking up. She would have been hurt had she been a normal woman, but as someone used to his fighting she wasn't. She knew he was exhausted and was glad that he had slept for so long. She had cried when she first got here, well, after she had talked to his parents. They had agreed to house her, their hope that she would come to her senses the reason behind that. Sam wasn't going to stick around long. She would find a place to move, her money from the trust fund giving her the means.

'I will find a place close by so that I can still help with the fighting, but only after he has cooled down.' She didn't want to keep him riled up, but she knew he would always be mad when he saw her. His former best friend turned fiancée, turned ex-everything. Sighing she began to type, her laptop propped up so she could express her feelings in the one way she knew how. The Fentons had found it in the stuff her parents had tried to throw out. Giving it to her after she woke up from her coma had given her release. The previous entries both in video and in type. She had gone back over some of them, seeing herself as she had been as a kid, a teen, and now a woman. She hadn't changed that much and yet she had changed so much.

Clicking away she failed to notice the chill in the room, the familiar cold ignored as she expressed herself.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Danny growled low as he flew by his house, another ghost stalking the area outside his parents home gone back to the Ghost Zone. It had started becoming more frequent and yet not like they had before. Most of the attacks before had been as far from his house as possible and then they centered around his parents house. What had changed? Sure, some of the attacks took him away from the house, but others were around the same area. Sam had moved a few weeks back, but she still went over to his parents every few weeks, her visits so frequent that Danny wondered what was going on. His parents refused to get in the middle of it, claiming that even though the pair was separated that they would never begrudge her a visit.

At first it had made him so angry. His parents were supposed to be on his side! They weren't supposed to want to hang around the woman that had broken his heart, but as the weeks went by he found some comfort in her presence, the fact that she even wanted to be near the place he had grown up in. The strange part was that when she was close he felt comfort, but as soon as she was gone, the Goth having moved further out of the city, he felt that anger and frustration return with double the power.

You may be knocked down,  
But not out forever,

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

In the last month Sam had come to fight with him, but the halfa had been too mad to accept her help, telling her to go home, to leave him in peace. At first she had ignored him, but as the weeks progressed she took his anger, his refusal as fact and stopped helping. That was about the time she started going over to his parent's home. Rubbing his head as another headache began to form he floated down into his room. The place was a mess, the halfa finding little time to actually clean his room with all the ghost fighting and also the lack of will to do so. Sitting on his bed he looked at the photo album that was poking out from under his bed.

Lose our way,

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sam wasn't doing much better, her tears still falling, but now it was for more than the loss of the halfa. It was because she had found out a very inopportune surprise. Touching her flat stomach she smiled. It may be inopportune, but that's didn't mean she was unhappy. Sighing she got up from her chair. She had gone to see the Fentons for the last few weeks, hoping that with each visit she would get the courage to tell them because just the thought of telling Danny made her heart stop and tears well up.

She was so afraid. Not for her, no, she was far beyond the ghosts detection, if anything they had given up on her. No, she was worried for her unborn child and for Danny. This was another person that would be affected by who their father was. This child would be hunted down by ghosts like Skulker and other ghosts that would want to use the child as bait for the halfa. She had to keep this to herself, something that only she should know, but at the same time she knew that was wrong. Danny deserved to know that he was a father and she wanted to tell him, but at the same time she would let him know how it would be. There would be rules and guidelines.

We get back up again,

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

*Somewhere in the Ghost Zone*

"I don't know what your plan is, but I don't see it working very well," Spectra remarked looking at the shadows of the room. There was a throne, very obvious even with as dark as it was in the room. Behind the throne the abyss that was the Ghost Zone swirled and moved.

"You underestimate my ways," came a soft voice. "You are well versed in misery, right Spectra?" The redhead nodded, her eyes narrowing at the shadow, the new ghost in the Zone. She had yet to meet the ghost face to face, but she knew that she was rather intelligent. "Then you should know that when two people in love break up over something as stupid as insecurities that mean nothing to the other partner that there is bound to be misery, something you so enjoy in making."

"Your point?"

"Breaking them up was the hard part, now on to the easy part. Revenge." A glow of red flashed from the throne as a deep chuckle echoed through the room. "And what sweet revenge it should be."


	13. Chapter 13

So get up, get up,  
You gonna shine again,

It took Sam a few days to get her emotions under control and to figure out how she wanted to tell him. It was going to be difficult because with every thought she felt tears sting her eyes. She loved Danny, more so than she cared about anything else and knew that being as she was now, she couldn't be around him. She couldn't risk putting him in danger over her or their child. Picking up the phone she dialed his number, a text sent to him instantly. She couldn't say anything, which for her was probably best since she was already on the brink of breaking down anyway.

-We need to talk. Come over when you get the chance.- She didn't need to leave her name, he would know who it was and when he came over she was going to make sure that he let her talk, not interrupting. As she leaned against the back of her sofa she sighed. It would be a long night if he choose not to come now. Waiting was far more horrible than the actual talking would be. She knew this. Closing her eyes she could feel the stress sitting on her shoulders. She wouldn't run from this. She would stay close, move closer if he needed her to so that he could see their child on a regular basis.

'What if he wants to do the right thing? Was that worse than him not wanting to be a part of the child's life?' Shaking her head she tried to wish the thoughts away. Even with all the thinking she had failed to choose which was worse among the things that could happen. She hoped that he wouldn't want their child, that he would be so mad that he would walk away and yet at the same time she hoped that he would want to be a part of the child's life. After all, Sam knew what it was like to have no parents and although their child would at least have their mother, she felt it still wouldn't be enough. What if their child was a boy? He would need a father figure and Sam wasn't sure she would ever, no, she knew that she would never find another man she would want to spend her life with.

She knew when he showed up, felt the drop in temperature. Opening her eyes she met a pair of glowing green orbs, the look in them much like her own, though she kept hers hidden. Danny's eyes held such sadness and pain. She could feel it and knew that she was the cause, but Danny would find someone else. He had always found a new girl and he would find another one, someone more befitting his needs.

'Hi.'

Never too late to get back up again,  
You may be knocked down,  
But not out forever

"You said we needed to talk," he stated returning to his human form. "I thought we were done talking?" It was a simple question, a statement that she knew he was still burnt over.

'We do. I don't know how to say this,' she signed. 'So, I guess I should come right out with it.' Danny was looking concerned now, as if her fingers could show emotions, though she knew they couldn't. Hands held nothing, nothing for her to convey her real feelings. The pain she felt being so close and knowing that she could never touch him again. 'I'm pregnant.' Ice blue eyes grew wide with shock. It was something so left field and she could see it in his eyes and then suddenly he had his arms around her, the feel of him making her eyes water. She could smell him, feel his warmth and yet at the same time she knew it wasn't wise to let him close. She wanted to push him off, but as her hands moved against his sides she found that she hadn't the strength to do that.

"Oh, my god!" he exclaimed. He was so happy. A baby! Sam was having his child! "We can try ag-" She held up her hand, signing that just because they were expecting that she and he were not getting back together. "But Sam, a child needs both parents." She nodded, her hands moving quickly to express to him all that she wanted from him.

'No money and we can work out a schedule after the baby is born.' Danny's eyes narrowed, his ice blue eyes growing cold in that second. He wasn't going for it. She could see that, but she couldn't go back. Would never be able to go back to being with him. It was too risky.

"Sam, I think you need to consider at least giving me a chance. I have no idea what happened, what made you walk away, but with a child on the way we need to at least try." She shook her head. She wasn't going to do it. She didn't love him like that. She couldn't just turn her emotions on and off. "I'm not taking no for an answer." When she again repeated her motions the halfa let out a frustrated sigh.

[May be knocked down but not out forever]

"At least after the first trimester come and live with me. It would be safer to have someone aro-" Her fingers flew up, her anger evident even as she kept her face relaxed.

'It's because I can't talk, right? Just because I can't talk doesn't mean that it's better to have someone around. Hell, you aren't even around with all the ghost fighting!' She hadn't meant to be that hateful, but he needed to understand that not being able to talk didn't make her handicapped. If she needed help when the baby came then she could always send a text to him. Her hands would still be free.

"Sam, I didn't mean it that way, but since you are on that subject tell me how you expect to teach our child when you can't talk?" It was a low blow, but she had struck first and his pain at her leaving was still fresh. He had been so shocked that she had left, had taken everything from him in that moment. His sleep had been haunted. It was full of their happy days, but with every dream he tried to see the fault. What had driven her away from him. She claimed not to love him as she had before, but he wasn't so sure about that. He had a feeling that there was another underlying feeling there.

It was a blow that had hit her, right in the heart and she could feel the pain. He was right on some levels. She could never talk to her child. Sure, she could teach them how to do sign language, but why not give them to someone who would be able to give them everything. Before Danny could apologize Sam began to sign again.

You're rolled out at the dawning of the day  
Heart racin' as you made you little get away,

'You make a valid point, Danny. I concede to that. I will stay at your house for the last trimester and after that we can talk about our child.' She forced a yawn, not hard when she really was tired. She had failed almost every night to pass out, her sleeping pills outlawed with her impending motherhood. Then in the morning and around mid afternoon she found that the sickness overtook her so her appetite was almost nil. Danny looked, really looked at the Goth before him. He had been so shocked at her text and so angry at her desertion that he had failed to see that she was thinner than before and looked ready to kill over.

"Are you okay, Sam?" She blinked.

'I'm fine. Pregnancy can be rather hard to get used to.' She was making joke now, her light humor not distracting him though. She could tell, so walking away for a moment she pulled out a small book. It didn't go into much detail, just a few things like morning sickness and such, but nothing like what she was experiencing. Signing that it would help him understand what she was talking about she once again hinted that she needed to sleep.

"I'll be by later." She signed for him not to worry and that she would keep him updated before rushing him out the door. Sighing after he left she leaned against her door. It had been hard, and hateful things had been uttered but everything would be fine. Danny would be there in the end and that would be all that he needed. She would give him full custody because he was right. Not just about not being able to teach their child things like talking, but if something bad should happen she couldn't cry out for help. She couldn't protect their child.

It feels like you've been runnin' all your life  
But, why? Oh why?

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The next day Danny showed up again, his expression one that the Goth knew right off the bat. He was mad. Not just mad though. No, the look on his face was of indignant. He was mad about something, possibly the book that she had issued him or maybe it was another ghost attack. She wished she could yell at him.

"Morning," he muttered. Definitely in a bad mood. "So, you thought that I wouldn't catch on?" That was sudden, the Goth was at a loss for words. She began to sign, but he paid her little attention as he held up the book, the one from last night. Had he been up all night reading that? "This is nothing."

'It was given to me by the doctor.'

"Don't care, Sam. This is a basic book, nothing to it. You are suffering far worse than just morning sickness. You are losing weight so it must be more tha-" She stopped him, her hands flying so fast that she repeated it to make sure he saw it.

'Danny, most women lose weight in the first trimester. Almost all women have morning sickness that lasts most of the day!' It was too late. She realized that she had told him more than she intended. She could see it in his eyes. He wasn't happy that she had lied to him, that she had omitted what was really going on. He still didn't know about her sleepless nights and he never would, not if she had anything to say about that.

"I don't care what most women do!" he thundered. "You are not going to follow suit." Reaching out he took her arm and went intangible before rushing out of the house. It took her a moment to get her wits together before trying to sign. She sighed when he continued to ignore her.


	14. Chapter 14

They ended up back at his house, her eyes narrowed at him while the halfa went around the house to prepare her something to eat. She continued to stand there, her stomach rolling now at the smells coming from the kitchen. She didn't look pleased with him and although she thought it was nice of him to try she was also annoyed with his choice to ignore her.

'Does he just hear half of what I say and chose to do what he wants? I can't help that food doesn't appeal at this point.' She walked into the living room. She couldn't even stand being close to the smell of food and she knew he was making something she absolutely adored. Sighing she sat down in a chair and closed her eyes waiting for him.

So you've pulled away from the love that wou'd've been there,  
You start believin' that your situation's unfair

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Danny moved quickly, making things that he knew she could eat, as most of her vegan food was still in his fridge and he continued to buy more just in case she did come over. He was glad that he was prepared for this, but at the same time he could hear her disagreement with him. He knew she couldn't talk, but there were moments when he could swear her voice was there, telling him things as she moved her slender fingers. It was a wish. He wanted her to get her voice back, and in that same respect he loved her whether she could talk or not.

Maybe that was the real issue. He did miss hearing her voice, missed hearing her talking to him and she felt that. She possibly felt that it was bad that she couldn't express herself the way she wanted and was frustrated. He couldn't relate with that on the voice, but he knew frustration and pain. He had been so frustrated with the doctors that refused to help her and frustrated when she didn't wake up after being freed from the dome that held her. The pain that he had felt holding her bleeding form in his arms woke him up at night. He could feel it, the red substance on his face and the urge to wipe it away. When he had looked her in the eyes at that moment and knew she was dying he had felt a pain like no other. Not even the day that she had disappeared had he felt such pain.

No, when she had disappeared there had been a chance she would come back, but she was in his arms, bleeding, worn out and dying. He had been there to see it whereas her disappearance had been just that... a disappearance. Looking down at the food in his arms he walked to the table to set it down. He had loved her just the same, all those years of looking and waiting.

"Sam," he called out heading into the hallway and past it to the living room where Sam sat in a chair, her back to him. All he could see over the top of the recliner was her black locks. "Sam." She didn't answer and he thought maybe she was ignoring him until her head moved a bit. Moving to stand over her he was shocked to find that she was asleep, her amethyst eyes closed and flickering. He was going to walk away, but suddenly she opened her mouth in a silent scream and he was quick to wake her, his hands touching her brow hoping to sooth her. It helped, but she didn't open her eyes.

But there's always scars,

"Sam, wake up, please," he whispered and it was at that point she did open her eyes, green orbs looking up at him dazed. She didn't look like she could see him, as if she were still in that nightmare and Danny did the one thing that came to him. He leaned down and kissed her, his lips touching hers softly at first and then harder. Sam's fingers found his hair, twinning in the black strands as her eyes regained their natural coloring before closing them. He could feel a vibration as she arched into his touch before stiffening and pulling away. She looked up at him, her mouth open while her eyes began to narrow. She was quick to assure him it had been a mistake, that she had still been half asleep, her body moving into a standing position. She rushed for the door, claiming with her fingers moving that he should have listened to her.

It was at that point her face turned green and she shoved the door open as she emptied what had been in her stomach on his front porch. Danny stood there in shock for all of two seconds before going to her aid. He helped her with her long hair and moved her back into the house as her legs turned to jelly. She had been fighting the fatigue every day, the lack of sleep coming back to bite her as she failed to eat as much as her body needed. That was something she couldn't fix since her body was the one that made the decision.

'I'm sorry,' she signed. He shook his head as he moved her back to her chair before disappearing into the kitchen. Returning a few moments later with a wet rag he cleaned her mouth and face before the Goth before him snatched it, her cheeks turning red. He knew what was going through her mind.

When you fall back far

"I know that you're not handicapped, Sam. I want to take care of you." She shook her head cleaning her face and handing the cloth back to him, her fingers flying after he took it from her. "It was the food smell?" She nodded as her face grew angry. "I know you told me, but there has to be something that you can eat." She shook her head and then began to sign. "Certain parts of the day are fine?" She continued to sign to him, her fingers working fast even as she felt the heaviness of her weary limbs. Danny finally understood as he took the rag with him back into the kitchen. Coming back a few minutes later with some water he offered her use of his bed, claiming that she needed to lay down before he could even think of her going home like she was now. She wanted to argue, but finally gave in knowing he was right. She signed that she would use the couch, not the bed.

"You would sleep better on the bed, Sam." She shook her head and pointed to the couch, reminding him that it was a pull out. He sighed and refused to give up the battle. "You will be using the bed, Sam," he thundered shocking both of them with his forcefulness. "I am tired of arguing with you and with as stubborn as we both are that is saying a lot. I refuse to let you sleep on the couch bed when your body needs real comfort." Sighing she nodded and allowed him to help her up into the bed. As soon as she was comfortable in his bed he left her, the door closing softly behind him. He had drugged the water with a muscle relaxer, something he had been torn in doing, but while he had been reading her book he had begun to do some research.

She wasn't allowed certain medicines, but that one would be okay since it was all herbal. Smiling softly he went to the laptop in the living room, opening the cover to do more research. He needed to keep her here, at least until she gave birth since he knew after that she would refuse to stay.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sam awoke a few hours later, having had the best sleep in a long time, to find Danny on the computer, his fingers typing away. Beside him appeared to be a tray with crackers and something in a tall glass. Sitting up she tried to creep out of bed, but the feeling of nausea hit her quick, like it did most afternoons and she had to lay back. She could feel the urge to vomit, but at the same time she knew it would only be dry heaving since she had already cleared her stomach.

"Here, try this. You should just nibble on these and then drink a little of this." He put the tray before her, her amethyst eyes meeting his ice blue ones with confusion clouding them. Taking his advice she munched on the cracker, the saltine dry in her mouth. After nibbling a bit she took a small sip of the drink to find that it was ginger ale. Suddenly the nausea faded, still there, but not as strong. She smiled as she leaned back on the pillow. It was great to feel it fade as it was what held her in bed most of the day just so her stomach would stay even. Signing a thank you she watched him set it on the table next to her. "Sam, we really need to talk."

She had a feeling this was going to be a conversation that she didn't want to have.

We lose our way,  
We get back up again

"I want you to know that I would never force you into anything, but for your safety and that of our unborn child I think you should stay with me, at least until the birth." She began to move her hands, but the halfa leaned over, his large hands falling over hers. "Please, at least give me this, Sam. I am tired of fighting you about this. You know that I am right when I say that it would be in the child's best interest. I can take care of you and you can continue on a more relaxed position with me helping out." She stayed quiet, her hands still. "I want to make sure that you and the baby are healthy and with all the stress you've been dealing with alone, I worry that you could be hurt or worse." It hit Sam at that moment that he was worried she would lose their child.

She knew that he wanted that child and that in all reality he was right. She was being stubborn for her own selfishness, not like he was. He was worried about their child and that was what mattered at this point. Their child. She nodded in agreement. "I'm also sorry that I said that awful thing the other day, you know, about you not being able to-" She held up hand. She signed to him that he was right. As a mute she couldn't give their child everything that he could. She wanted him to take their child, but she wanted to stay with him until six weeks after their child's birth. She would visit him every week and provide their child with everything she could. Danny wanted to protest, to tell her that they could live together with their child, but he could see by the determination in her eyes that she wouldn't agree.

"Okay, Sam." It was in agreement. Sam would stay at the house until the birth of their child.

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Somewhere in the Ghost Zone...

"So, now she has moved back in with him, but not because they are together?" the shadow in the throne inquired. "So why has she moved back with him?" Her servant shook his head. "We must find out before striking because if it isn't love between them then my plan will not work, though I mostly want revenge against her. She was the one that dealt him a bad hand." The ghost before her bowed and was gone.

"He could have convinced her that she was safer with him," Ember stated. The person in the shadows shook her head. "You don't think so?"

"No, she refused to do it before. I don't think he could get her again. There's something else there and I intend to find out what it is before I use it to my own advantage." Ember sighed.


	15. Chapter 15

It's never too late to get back up again,  
One day you will shine again,

Months later Sam stood at the entrance of the house, her small form blooming rather nicely at her fourth month. She wasn't big, but she wasn't small. The pair had begun to wonder if halfa babies grew faster than humans as she looked closer to her sixth month. The Goth was a small woman, but she had big enough hips that her pregnancy would be rather easy. She still couldn't talk, in fact it seemed that the Goth had even given up trying even after the last few doctor visits.

"Hey," Danny whispered as he looked up from the experiment he had been working on. Danny and Sam stayed far from each other, Danny yearning for the Goth. Sam felt the same way, but knew that if she gave him indication that she wanted him that the halfa would use it to get her back. She couldn't risk that. She waved politely. "Everything okay?" She nodded. "Did you need something?" Sam shook her head before disappearing back into the house. It was so strange, being so close and yet knowing that they were a great distance apart. Sighing she headed for her room, the one that was as close as she would ever get to her halfa.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Danny sighed, his hands stopping as he thought of the woman upstairs. He could feel that she was torn, her attitude cold and yet he could feel it. There was yearning, whether it was for the closeness that making love brought them or something else. He knew she needed him. He didn't know what to do. He was torn himself between wanting to go to her and refusing to be with her when she claimed no love for him. He wasn't sure about that either.

'She loves me, but I have no way to get her to prove it.' He could get love from her by getting her in bed, but that would be a hollow thing as she could claim that it was the moment, the passion. Shaking his head he tried to work again only to throw down his work to stand and head for the door. He wasn't standing by for this. He had stood by for the last few months, watching as Sam struggled, her morning sickness gone, but for some reason she didn't eat like he thought she should. It also seemed that she had been putting makeup on, something that his Sam never did, not like she was now. Sam was Goth so eyeliner and such was fine, but she was putting on heavy base and he had a feeling it had to do with the dark circles he had seen under her eyes.

He walked up the stairs quickly, his intent to catch her off guard and have his way with her. Moving quickly he sought her out in the one place that she had been going every night. Her room. The light was off, but he knew there was no way she could be asleep. Moving into the darkness he quickly found the bed with her on in, her back to him. He moved with stealth as he crept over to her, his body making the bed sink. Before she could even make a move his hands had hers over her head, his mouth crashing down on hers. It felt so good, both of them enjoying a feeling they had been denied.

You may be knocked down but not out forever,  
Lose our way, we get back up again,

At first it seemed like the Goth under him was moving to push him off, but her body arched under his, her lower half pushing into his and the male holding her down nearly came undone. She was hot, her mouth opening to invite him in. He could feel her trying to force him to release her and then he was holding nothing as she went intangible. Her hands were on him, moving up and down. She touched every muscle, her eyes relaying all that he needed to know with her lack of vocals.

"Sam, I have wanted to be with you for so long," he whispered. She stopped, her finger covering his lips. She didn't want to hear that. She didn't want to know his feelings, she just wanted to feel him. Allowing her hands to grab at his clothing she phased them off of him before doing the same to what little she had on. Laying on the clothing would have been uncomfortable, but they were both so far gone that it didn't even register...

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Danny shot up, his breath fogging out in front of him. Looking around at the dark room he found no one there, but as his breath fogged out again he stood, pulling on his pants quickly to search for the ghost lurking nearby. Sam turned over, her belly cumbersome as she tried to get comfortable again.

So get up, get up

"Hello, Goth girl," a voice whispered next to her face. Amethyst eyes opened wide, a scream actually leaving her lips before a quick strike to the face silenced her. Danny rushed back into the room to find Sam gone, a struggle evident from the sheets layout. They were everywhere and yet there was no note, no way to tell where the Goth had gone, but there was one thing that Danny knew. He had heard the Goth scream. Rushing back to the front hall he looked around, the chill gone from the air.

"Sam! SAM!" He could feel the fear, the fear that his beloved and their unborn child were in danger and there was nothing he could do for them!

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Darkness, that was all that was visible to her when she opened her eyes. The first thought came that she was blind now, but then she threw that thought away. There was no way that she could be blind if ahe could see the light coming through what could only be a blindfold. With that fear gone she remembered what had happened.

"Ember," she whispered, her voice breaking with the word. She could talk, but not very well with the pain her throat was feeling. It was like Sam's throat was on fire, the burning making the goth want a drink of water. "Show yourself!" she cried out forcing her pained throat even more. Sam knew that if she did that then she might lose her voice again, but the goth was willing to take that chance if it meant that she could get out of here!

"Chill out, freak," came a response, the voice the the teal haired rocker. "It will be all over soon. This woman doesn't play like her dear old dad did." Sam blinked. Her father? Who was this? Suddenly she felt hands on her, the rope around her wrist falling off allowing blood to circulate painfully. The raven haired woman could feel the hard and rocky ground below her so she knew that she wasn't above ground. Undergrowth? Giving herself a mental shake Sam knew that was stupid. Undergrowth hated humans, so who else...

"Yes, my father, a stupid man, but brilliant in some ways," a soft feminine voice stated, not close enough to her, but close enough that she felt the rocker next to her stiffen. That wasn't a very good sign. Was this a ghost that was more powerful than Pariah?

You gonna shine again

"Who are you?" A strange laugh was heard and the woman knew who she was up against. "Freakshow?"

"Bingo, little woman, but even more than that because I am not human!" The blindfold was ripped from her eyes, the flash of bright light making her want to cover her eyes, but Sam refused to, a show of strength. As the light faded, her eyes becoming accustomed to the brightness of the room she found herself looking at a young woman, so skinny the goth was sure that she would snap in two. Her long hair was black like Sam's, but it was so faded. How could that person had made a child, much less a ghost child? She wanted to ask, but Sam held her tongue refusing to talk to her again.

"I know what you must be thinking, hell, I think your boyfriend was thinking the same thing when he saw me that last time." She wore nothing her father had worn, though her long robe was a blood red. Sam leaned back as a smell hit her nose and then it struck me. It was blood on her clothing, the robe was soaked in it! The goth wanted to move away, but as she moved back one space she hit something solid. During the time that the crazy woman before her had been talking another person had entered the room. Sam looked up at the hulking form of Skulker, his eyes red instead of green. She looked to Ember and noticed that she was nervous as she too stared at the mechanical ghost.

It's never too late, to get back up again  
You may be knocked down, but not out forever,

'Was there something going on that I wasn't even aware of? Oh, she's holding Skulker captive!' Sam remembered Danny making a comment about the pair dating, the problem that the ghost male had been having with his rocker girlfriend and it struck her that the teal haired woman was worried for her mate. He was under control while Ember was not, it was a way to keep control of the young woman. Holding her love hostage was the way that this woman before her got her way.

"Oh, and Goth girl, I have a task for you," the woman stated as something appeared in her hand. Sam could see an orb the size of her fist in her hand, the light from it was re-

May be knocked down, but not out forever!

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Danny moved quickly behind the Box Ghost, his least expected ally in all this mess. The heavy set ghost had come to him with a complaint about how this new ghost had suddenly shown up and then poof most of the male ghosts had disappeared. When revealed that it was some of the older ghosts, all of them in couples, he had known somehow that it had to be his target, the woman who had Sam. The Box Ghost said nothing as he rushed for the place he claimed just showed up, the place large and crazy...

"You have got to be shitting me," he muttered as he came to a stop before the large building, the large tent to be more precise. Before the halfa was a circus, not just any circus though. No, Gothica. The freaking place that Freakshow had been given as an inheritance from his parents, a place that Danny had been sure he wouldn't have to see ever again. The blue ghost before him pointed to it, too obvious as he told the other ghost to leave, that he would take care of the ghost that haunted the Ghost Zone. How ironic... He had suspected any other ghost, but not one that he had only looked at for a split second, one that Freakshow had warned him from.

This is love callin', love callin', out to the broken,  
This is love callin'.

He would save her. It would be a new enemy as he had never truly fought her before, but he would do it because the love of his life and their unborn child were at stake. He would never forgive himself if he lost her again. How many times would he be in this position? How many times would he be able to hold Sam close and feel her heartbeat before another being decided to take her away?

"Never again," he whispered. He would never let her go and he would never give her the chance to walk away from him. He was done playing the nice guy. It was time for the gloves to come off and for him to take that stand.


	16. Chapter 16

Danny walked toward the tent, having landed a few feet from it. This was going to be a battle, but he was ready. Just as he took one more step toward it the flap opened, Sam walking out to him, her eyes flashing red. Not good.

"Sam?" he questioned. She didn't even blink as she powered up, her small form moving quickly as she laid a blast into his gut. He was thrown back and off the rock that was holding the tent. He managed to correct himself and fly up, but he wasn't sure how he was going to fight his pregnant lover. Rushing to float over her, he looked around. For the bitch to be controlling her she had to be close. Maybe in the darkness that surrounded the area. He had to find that and get her so that Sam could be free. He could remember the time that he himself had been controlled and how easily it was for him to become himself when Sam was around, but he wasn't sure whether that would work with her.

'Was he questioning their love?' He shouldn't be, but the fact that she walked away so easily was bothering him. She had lied to him, told him that she loved him and then took it back. Was their love that easy to shut down? He looked at her and noticed that although she looked right at him, she failed to jump or fly to him. She could do it, she was that good, so why wasn't she? Just as that question entered his mind she was up there with him, her eyes flashing green for a moment as she transformed. Her pregnancy was more noticeable in her Phantom suit, but it was her eyes that captured him. They flashed green once more before reverting to red, but he could see it in both of those seconds. She was fighting.

"Sam, you know this is wrong!" She was there, just buried deep. He looked around, but before he could get a good look around she was back in his face, her feet knocking him in the head as she continued to try and take him down. It was a nightmare come to life. He hadn't remembered all that he had done in his possessed form, but he had known that he had been possessed and that he had done SOMETHING. It was dreadful and now he had to be on the other side. To watch the one he loved being controlled. Suddenly she stopped, her eyes flashing green as she pointed below them.

"Orb, not staff," she muttered before reverting back to red eyes. He looked down to where she had been pointing to see something glimmer below them.

This is love callin', love callin', out to the broken

It hit him in an instant. She was pointing out the target. Was that a good thing with how that ray worked?! It controlled those with feelings. If it was less effective on Sam then it had been on him, then did that mean that she was more in love with him, than he was with her? It took that moment of fear that he felt the knowledge that maybe she had been right to end it. That he didn't feel enough for her to be that easily controlled.

SLAM!

It was quick and painful as she struck him from behind. He was sent quickly to the ground, the small Goth following his descent for mere moments before stopping. Her red eyes watched him with interest as he fell on top of someone, their shocked gasp making him shoot back up to look behind him. There on the ground was a female, her large red eyes glued on him in shock. It seemed that she hadn't noticed where Sam had slammed him either. He glanced up at the floating woman. There was a smirk on her face, though her eyes were still red tinted.

This is love callin'.

He turned back and glaring at the woman before him demanded that she release the Goth from her possession. That sobered her up quickly as she jumped to her feet and flipped away from him. Danny moved to follow her when a blast came between him and his prey. Looking up he found Sam, smirk gone and eyes glowing brighter than before, attacking him. She came flying at him, her hands moving with each blast. She was moving quicker by the moment as the halfa moved faster to avoid her. He didn't want to have to hurt her and that would continue to be the plan no matter what! He just needed to stop the woman before him. The female Freakshow moved to the right and Danny followed. He didn't care if he had Sam on his tail. He was after the woman before him. He watched for the orb she had been talking about.

It was the key to the whole thing. He went invisible, the move throwing off the pair of women as he moved away from his target. She would feel his chill and he didn't need that. He would move around her, looking for that stupid orb. Once Sam was free he would tear the woman before him apart. Suddenly the thing that had glimmered before glimmered again. Smirking he rushed at her, his fingers warming up with energy. It was so easy, his gloved fingers closing around the round object, the startled cry from Freakshow following him as he crushed it in his bare hands. It sparkled as it fell at his feet, the ghost woman above him faltering as she grasped her head. Danny wanted to go to her, but at that moment Freakshow lunged at him, her small cold hands grasping him firmly around the neck. She was stronger than she looked, her small form betraying the strength she had.

This is love callin', love callin',

"You bastard!" she wailed, her body changing quickly as she threw him to the ground. Danny clawed at her hands, his own powers strong, but his mind so far gone from lack of oxygen. He hadn't even had time to take a proper breath when she had grabbed him and now he was going to die. It was that simple. She was going to kill him. "I needed that bitch to kill you and then I was going to kill her! It was the best plan!" Her body continued to grow, her ghost form coming out even stronger. It was her obsession that was feeding that monster inside of her. She was beyond help now and she needed to be stopped. Suddenly he found his breathing passage open, her hands gone. He watched in shock as Sam flew past him, her eyes flashing a very bright green.

He knew that look. Sam was pissed! She began to pummel the ghost before her, her voice ringing out high over the lands around them. At her screams of anger, misery, heartache, as well as several other emotions, several ghosts appeared. There were ones under her control and others that followed behind in search of the madness that was going on before them. Most recognized the ghost woman, her red eyes focused on the person who had managed to blow a hole into her shoulder. Green oozed from it, but what happened next was the finale for the one called Freakshow.

I am so broken

Freakshow was grabbed from behind, a pair of cold metallic arms pulling her next to an equally cold hard chest. She tried to struggle, but as she attempted to go intangible someone shoved something heavy into her gut, her green life spilling out faster as she looked up into a pair of teal eyes.

"That was for even thinking you using my feelings against me!" Another slam with the sharp end of her guitar caused a scream to erupt from the white skinned ghost. "That was for using him!" Sam floated down, her eyes watching as the other ghosts came forward, all of them pissed off and taking a turn at the incapacitated and almost dead ghost. She walked to Danny, her hand slipping easily in his.

"I knew you would come." He smiled. It had been so rough for them. "You will always come for me."

"No matter what." He pulled her closer to him, his hand falling on her pregnant belly. "I will always come for those I love." Even when others questioned whether they were missing or dead.

This is love callin' love callin


End file.
